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forever-once-gone · 1 year

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New Drabble! On The First Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me...

This is a drabble! To read the first part click here! And please I hope you all read this since you guys seem to love this pair.

Pairing: Yandere!Namjoon x Reader x Yandere!Jungkook

Genre: Yandere AU, angst

Word Count: 3.2k

Summary: Before you had gotten kidnapped by your boss and his fiancé, you had to first meet the Mr. Jeon that you heard so much about. So, how exactly did your first meeting with him go? Well, why not reminisce about the last time you were truly free? When you were not yet locked to your unfortunate future of being added into your boss’ relationship.

Content & Warnings: Gender neutral reader, yandere themes, angst, Joon and Kook are in an established relationship, CEO!Joonie, stay-at-home-boyfriend!Kook, assistant!reader, polyamory, reader’s sexuality is nondescript, talks of violence, Jungkook wants to hurt the reader a lot during this, general discomfort, making out, use of pet names, reader being none the wiser to what the two of them are talking about as they continue to type away on their keyboard lol

Author’s Note: Hi hi! It’s been a while. I’ve been swamped with school and just haven’t been able to write anything for you guys lately. But today, I logged into Tumblr and saw some very kind reblogs and asks and I just wanted to write something for you guys! I really appreciate the kind comments and It really does fuel me to write for you guys. So here is a drabble for your guys’ favourite couple! I hope you guys enjoy seeing how Jungkook and the reader’s first encounter went. It’s funny cause Jungkook is like fuming and they’re just like “this guy seems stressed :(” and then they get chosen (kinda) to be pursued by Jungkook and Namjoon lol. I apologize for not having posted part two last Christmas, but I was honestly just really stressed around that time. And then I wanted to have this small inside Easter egg (?) for something in part two but then I realized it was kinda hard to explain without having a previous explanation for it. So this drabble worked out! It was a little incentive to add that little tidbit into this and maybe you’ll have a little “oh!” moment when you read something later on when I post part two (whenever that will be lol, don’t ask me, idk. I’m aiming for this Christmas). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. I need to stop writing this author’s note, it’s has gotten too long anyways lol. So yeah, enjoy and let me know what you think!

Jungkook was fuming as he tapped his foot impatiently on the floor of the elevator, seething for the elevator to spit him out on Namjoon’s floor. He was gonna figure out what was going on with his boyfriend one way or another.

His dearest Joonie had refused his daily cup of coffee… again. For the past few weeks, Namjoon, the love of his life, had been eating everything during breakfast that Jungkook woke up oh so graciously to make for him each morning. Joon finished everything except his fucking cup of coffee. Some days he’d be kind enough to take a sip or two before leaving the still very full mug standing in its place on the dining room table beside his empty dishes.

Seeing the mug full of the coffee that Namjoon used to always say Jungkook made better than anyone else left Jungkook feeling insecure. Insecure and just a little bit angry. Okay, maybe a bit more than a little bit, he’ll admit. Okay, fine, he was boiling with fury. He hated to imagine that Namjoon was drinking coffee made by someone else. Because he knew for a fact, if Namjoon wasn’t drinking his coffee, then he was getting it from somewhere else ‘cause Joonie was never able to get anything done without his morning coffee. And knowing Joonie’s disdain for store bought coffee, Jungkook knew it had to be someone making it for him, homemade. And if he was drinking someone else's, that must mean that he was falling out of love with him and falling in love with this awful, boyfriend-stealing, shameless person. And Jungkook was gonna stop at nothing until he found who this fucking person was and got even. He was gonna win Namjoon back one way or another.

The ding-ing of the elevator woke him from his murderous thoughts just in time to see the doors open to the empty space that lead to his boyfriend’s office. Or at least, the once-empty area, because now, unlike the last time he’d come here about a month ago, there was a table placed just before the office doors. And behind that table was a person, who upon hearing the elevators open perked up from their computer screen to smile at him. This person had a sweet smile, kind eyes, and the smoothest voice as they asked him what they could do for him.

He walked up to their table, arms crossed over his chest as he analysed the person sitting below him. The person still smiling up at him even throughout the awkward silence as Jungkook left their question unanswered. The person was dressed nicely and they had a kind aura around them. Their workspace was covered in flowers from the flower shop that Jungkook knew Namjoon frequented. Usually, his Joonie brought home flowers only for him, but here was this new person who was now swimming between countless bouquets covering every free inch of their work table.

When they asked him what he wanted for the second time, he finally graced the person with an answer. “I’m here to see Namjoon.”

The person nodded their head, before prodding for more info. “Alright, and who might you be?” the person asked, turning to scroll through their computer, searching to see if they had accidentally double-booked their boss’ time.

“I’m Jungkook,” he began, back straightening in pride when he saw the worker tense up in their seat. “Joon’s boyfriend,” he concluded, mentally doing a mic drop, hoping that those words etched themselves in the worker's skin, the one who was stealing his Namjoon from him. He hoped it hurt.

What he didn’t expect is for the worker to turn back to him after X-ing out of the calendar that they had been frantically scrolling through, before turning to him with a polite smile.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Jeon,” the person began, “I think this is the first time we’re actually meeting in person. I’m Y/n L/n, Mr. Kim’s assistant. I just got shifted up to this floor about a month ago from my previous place a few floors down.” You reached your hand out to him for him to shake, just for him to completely ignore it, not even glancing in your hands direction.

“Yes. I’m sure he’s mentioned me before.” Jungkook was gonna make sure that you knew that Namjoon was his, no matter how nice you pretended to be.

“Yes, he has,” you replied pleasantly. “And of course, I’ve spoken with you before too, if you recall?”

When he thought about it, he had spoken with you before. The few times he’d call Namjoon’s assistant when his boyfriend wasn’t picking up. He would pace in this same area, back when it was still empty and call the number for Namjoon’s assistant to know when he’d be free again. The conversations would be semi-mannerly, at best, as he would ask where his boyfriend was before hanging up as soon as he got his answer. He never expected the assistant, that he never spoke more than a few clipped sentences to, being the one who was stealing his love away from him.

That they would have been moved up to be on the same floor as his boyfriend.

The two of them.

Alone.

And when he saw two cups of steaming coffee on your table corner, one half finished and one still untouched, he knew that you were the one making coffee for his man. He felt deep hatred rise in his chest, bubbling up his throat, ready to let out his rage on the home-breaker in front of him.

But he pushed his feelings down before giving you a pursed smile. “Right. You sound different in person. I didn’t even recognize you.” It was true, he wasn’t expecting your voice to be as sweet as it was, though he could tell it was strictly professional. Even when you were so obviously putting on a kind smile for the sake of your job, your voice was so saccharine. He could only imagine how much more saccharine—sinful—your voice must sound when you were using it for your more devious desires.

Jungkook wondered if you’d ever used that syrupy voice on his boyfriend. Walked into his man’s office with your probably sub-par coffee between your hands. You were attractive, that he will give to you, but he hoped that Namjoon wouldn't think the same way that he did. He hoped that any attempts that you’d made on him were met with bitter rejection.

But seeing you surrounded with all the flowers, making your soft features look even more attractive—though he hated to admit it—he knew that Namjoon must feel at least something for you. Why else would Namjoon have gotten you all these flowers? Flowers that Jungkook indignantly noticed were his favourites.

You were perfect and that’s what made his heart hurt more.

In another life, maybe Jungkook would have fallen for you himself, he thought sorely.

You laughed at his remark about your voice. “I guess no one really sounds the same over the phone though, right?” You asked him. “I mean, you sound pretty different yourself.”

Jungkook felt his eye twitch. Was that a dig at him? Were you implying that he was being rude? Were you saying he was anything less than the kindest, best person in the world? He restrained himself from reaching over your desk and pulling your hair out, telling you how Namjoon always told him that he was the best person in the world. He wanted to tell you that you’d never compare to him in Namjoon’s eyes.

Instead of doing any of that, he decided it was better to just ask for his boyfriend. He had a few choice words that he wanted to have with him.

“So will you please tell me if my boyfriend is available?” he asked you, steering the conversation back to the original topic of conversation.

Your eyes widened. “Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr. Jeon. In my surprise of meeting you for the first time, I forgot to tell you that he’s in a meeting right now. He should be done in…” You turned to check the clock on the wall. “...in just about ten minutes.”

You turned back to the man in front of you who stood there with a small pout that you were sure he didn’t realize was there and you observed the way his eyebrows scrunched slightly together. It was funny to see how his overly expressive face had changed so many times in the little amount of time that he’d come up to you. Clearly something was bothering this poor guy, so you tried to be as nice to him as you could. Though it only seemed to make him look even worse.

“You can wait for him in the sitting area over there or you could wait for Mr. Kim in his office.” You left it up to Mr. Jeon choose what he’d rather do, only for him to scoff slightly.

“I’ll wait for him in his office,” he answered curtly. He began to walk away and you turned back to your computer only for him to step back up to you. He pointed at the mug sitting beside yours. “Is this for Joonie?”

“Uh yeah.”

“I’ll take this to him.” He gave you another half smile and one last glance at your pretty face before finally entering Mr. Kim’s and taking the suffocating aura that was surrounding him with him. You sighed in relief. You hated having to deal with this job, but the paycheque wasn’t anything to scoff at, and so you settled back into your chair and hoped Mr. Kim would get here soon.

Namjoon found Jungkook sitting in his chair when he returned from his meeting on one of the lower floors of the building. His younger boyfriend sipping on a cup of coffee that he recognized was the one that you usually set out for him. He could see Jungkook’s eyebrows furrowed in disgust, as he continuously sipped loudly from his drink.

Namjoon could tell immediately that his beloved was in one of his moods. He knew that he had to get control of the situation, and quickly, especially if he didn’t want you to overhear whatever Kookie was upset about.

“Hi, love. What are you doing here?” Namjoon rounded the table to press a kiss against Jungkook’s temple as he continued to sip from his cup.

“They make some good coffee, huh? I see now why you’ve been rejecting my coffee now.” Jungkook got right to his point. His voice was cold and he refused to look at his boyfriend as he set down the now empty mug.

Namjoon sighed. “Don’t be like that. I was just being kind to them. I didn’t want to upset them by not accepting their coffee.” He pulled Jungkook up from the chair momentarily before sitting down in Jungkook’s place. He then smoothly pulled his boyfriend to sit down sideways on his lap. He rubbed his large hand up and down Jungkook’s back, trying to calm him down.

“Oh really?” Jungkook shoved Namjoon’s arm away from him. “‘Just being kind’? What about all the roses on their desk?! I saw the labels on them, they’re from Sirf Ek Phool! The same place you always get flowers for me!” Jungkook folded his arms against his chest, stopping himself from beating his fists against his boyfriend’s chest like he wanted to.

“Honey, that is just because they take such good care of me—”

Jungkook’s eyes darkened, his mouth dropping open in disbelief. “Take care of you? Excuse me? Taking better care of you than me? Your boyfriend?! In which way is this assistant taking care of my boyfriend, hmm? Do I need to beat their ass?!” He began to push himself off Namjoon’s lap, eyes locked at the door with a barbaric look in his eyes.

Namjoon swiped a hand over his face, before pulling his boyfriend back into his chest, closer than he was before, his arms locking over his waist. “Love, you know that I love you more than anything else in the world. No other person could ever take your place. They are just very kind, I promise I’m not doing anything that would harm our relationship. I promise you.”

He pressed a kiss against Jungkook’s cheek, before pressing another against his jaw. He pulled a content sigh from Jungkook, and Namjoon knew instantly that he’d deescalated the situation. At least enough for Kookie not to go and murder his assistant. At least not right now.

“Why should I trust you?” Kookie let out softly in between whimpers as Namjoon nipped at his neck.

“When have I ever lied to you?” Namjoon said against his Adam's apple.

“Many, many times,” Jungkook replied.

Namjoon let out a half laugh against Jungkook’s shoulder, letting his forehead rest against him. “I guess I should clarify. When have I ever lied to you in a way that was bad for you?”

“Never.” Jungkook pulled Namjoon’s face to face him. “You always know what’s best, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt.”

“Don’t be that way. I’m not asking you to be best friends with them or anything like that. Just give them a chance to be your friend.”

Jungkook thought for a second, thinking back to you sitting at your desk and your friendly nature. You weren’t that bad, and you were rather pretty… Ugh, couldn’t Namjoon just be clear with what he meant? Did he expect… more from you than just an assistant?

Jungkook’s bottom lip was jutted out in sadness, calling out to Namjoon with its plump red appearance. Namjoon was again taken aback by his boyfriend’s beauty and just how amazing he was for him. After all, look at him. Just a second ago, Jungkook was ready to beat up his assistant and now he was clutching Namjoon’s suit jacket’s lapels with a vulnerable look on his face. He looked so worried, waiting for Namjoon’s next words and his next course of action. Fuck, Namjoon loved that man.

He pulled his boyfriend in for a kiss, letting the shorter man melt into his embrace. He could taste your signature coffee on Jungkook’s tongue which only made Namjoon push his tongue more eagerly in his mouth. The taste of your coffee and the love of his life together making his head spin in ecstasy. His brain painted a picture of what could come if he was able to make this whole thing work.

He knew what he wanted, and he knew he’d get it.

Don’t mistake him for being selfish, oh no. He wasn’t doing this just because he wanted you. It’s because he knew that in due time Jungkook will fall for you too. He knew he would. He wouldn’t have to push it, nor would he have to force it. You were perfect for the two of them, he’d figured that out in less than 8 months of you becoming his assistant after the last one quit. You were incredible and he knew that you were just Jungkook’s type. He knew Jungkook and he knew that in less than a month he’d be just as smitten with you as Namjoon was with you now. Actually, Namjoon knows that Jungkook would be even more in love with you than he was now.

And with Jungkook now in his arms, Jungkook’s hands gripping the sides of Namjoon’s neck possessively, his thumbs pushing into Namjoon’s jaw. The way that Jungkook had finished your whole cup of coffee leaving nothing for Namjoon to even get a taste of, and how Jungkook despite his furious expression had the slightest bit of a flush on his face when Namjoon had first walked in, he knew that Jungkook already was falling for you.

Namjoon pressed one final kiss to Jungkook’s lips before pulling away.

Jungkook had a blissed out expression on his face, a soft smile etched on his features as his eyes remained shut in happiness.

“Do you really hate them that much?” Namjoon asked Jungkook, watching him carefully.

Jungkook slowly opened his eyes, a blush slowly making its way up his neck. He turned to look to the side, revealing his bright red ears to Namjoon. Jungkook thought back to your sweet voice, your pretty face, your kind smile, and the coffee you had made that he couldn’t get enough of even as much as he had wanted to hate it. He turned to glance at the empty mug on the table that he wished would refill on its own.

He waited for a minute before: “No.”

“But no more ignoring my coffee, you still have to drink mine! And you have to say that mine's better than theirs” Jungkook added.

Namjoon smiled. Perfect, he knew this would be perfect. He knew just how perfectly you’d fit in with his little family. How you’d fit in Jungkook’s heart. He knew the both of you very well. He was proud.

Namjoon forced Jungkook to turn back to him before attacking him with kisses again.

You turned to see Mr. Jeon skipping out of Mr. Kim’s office. You expected him to go directly to the elevator because of his short attitude with you earlier, but he instead turned to stand in front of your table once again. Smiling down at you genuinely for the first time since he first walked into the room.

You waited for him to say something, but when he didn’t, you figured you should say something instead. “All done?” you asked.

Mr. Jeon just nodded his head, which only made the newly blossoming marks on his neck more visible to you. “I had a sip of the coffee you made Joonie, it was good.”

“Oh thank you,” you replied, a bit taken aback by his sudden change from his previous conduct from before Mr. Kim had shown up. Mr. Kim had given you a small nod in greeting before entering his office when you’d told him Mr. Jeon was waiting for him. Mr. Jeon must really love Mr. Kim for his personality to do such a 180 after seeing him for just half an hour.

Damn, is that what love does to a person?

“I would like to have a proper cup the next time I come visit Joonie.” Mr. Jeon looked down at you expectantly. He seemed to be looking for something deep within you and when you agreed to make him a cup the next time you saw him, he seemed to have found whatever he was looking for.

He smiled at you though a bit hesitant. He pulled a rose from one of the vases of your bouquets, twirling it between his fingers. He seemed to still be a bit stuck thinking of something, but then he was turning away from you. He pressed the button calling the elevator, before turning back at you. “It was nice meeting you, Y/n. I hope we’re able to get to know each other more in the future.”

“Yes, of course!”

He waved the flower at you in goodbye before stepping into the elevator, flashing you one final bunny smile.

What an odd man.

Does 3k still count as a drabble? I have no clue. Anyway, thanks for reading! 💕💕💕

#yandere bts #yandere bts x reader #bts x reader #bts fanfic #yandere bts fanfic #yandere jungkook x reader #yandere namjoon x reader #jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfic #namjoon x reader #yandere jungkook #yandere namjoon #poly bts x reader #namjoon fanfic #Ev's writing #Ev's bts poly fic #fic: on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

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ghost-party · 1 year

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Ready for another? 🤗 Click below to unwrap today’s gift!

Want a sneak peek? After witnessing a violent confrontation between two rival crime syndicates, you’re placed under the protection of a stoic, handsome bodyguard.

Warnings: references to violence, panic attacks, therapy, swearing

Your bodyguard is making pancakes this morning.

Yesterday was vegetable omelets. And the day before was a traditional Japanese breakfast with rice and miso soup.

Aki’s wearing a red apron over a soft long-sleeved shirt, his hair pulled back. Your gaze lingers there, remembering the few times you’ve seen it loose, falling just shy of touching his shoulders.

It’s one of the small, unavoidable intimacies that come with living together, even if it’s only temporary.

If someone had told you six months ago that you would have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnessing a shootout between two rival crime syndicates, you wouldn’t have believed it.

But here you are, living in a safe house until the trial begins and you’re able to testify. Until then, your life is at risk. And even after a verdict is reached, you’re not sure what your options will be.

It’s something you’ve tried not to think about.

“You okay?”

You look up to find Aki placing a stack of pancakes in front of you, along with a cup of coffee. His brow is faintly creased with worry.

“Yeah, I’m good.” You muster a small smile and pick up your fork. “You’re always spoiling me with breakfast.”

He doesn’t seem convinced but allows you to redirect the conversation. “I’m just glad I could change your awful habits.”

Through a mouthful of fluffy pancake, you protest, “Toaster waffles are not awful.”

He sits down opposite you and replies flatly, “Yes, they are. And so is skipping breakfast entirely.”

“Says the man who starts every morning with a cigarette.”

His mouth quirks up at that, and from his silence, you know you’ve won.

When this is all over, you’ll miss these little back-and-forths, teasing him, delighting in his dry responses. You’ll miss a lot, actually.

He cleans when he’s frustrated or stressed, and you’ve come to like the way he folds the towels. He always smells faintly of smoke, but also a light cologne. You peeked at it in your shared bathroom — bergamot and cedar.

He’s often straightforward to the point of bluntness. But he never dismisses your feelings. When you had panic attacks in the weeks after you were placed in protective custody, he was a steady, reassuring presence.

As neat and tidy as he is, he leaves books all over the house. You sometimes hear him humming to himself in the bath. One night, when you couldn’t sleep, he stayed up with you and watched bad late-night TV until you both dozed off on the couch around three in the morning.

It’s not often that you leave the house, but when you do, he keeps you close. And that closeness has bled into your time spent at home, your respective amounts of personal space seeming to grow smaller.

While cooking dinner together, he’ll place a steadying hand on your hip while he reaches for something in the cabinet above you. As he stirs the pot, you stand on your tiptoes and rest your chin on his shoulder, silently asking for a taste.

And he rarely smiles, but you’ve memorized each and every time you’ve managed to coax one to the surface. You think about them far too often.

You think about him far too often.

“I heard from Himeno earlier, before you woke up.”

Aki pushes his plate aside, despite the fact that he didn’t finish his pancakes. You would needle him about it if it weren’t for the strange, unreadable look on his face.

“Looks like there won’t be any need for a trial. The defendants have chosen to accept plea bargains.”

You lower your fork, trying to process what he’s saying. “They… What?”

He sits back in his chair and crosses his arms. “More than likely, they’re getting a reduced sentence in exchange for sharing information on both syndicates.”

“So… I don’t need to testify.”

“No. The prosecutor would still like something on record, so we’ll handle that this week. But…” He mouth presses into a thin line before he quietly says, “We’re done here.”

Something unpleasant coils in the pit of your stomach, and your instinctive response is a resounding no, we’re not, we can’t be.

“Things can’t just go back to normal, though,” you finally say. Having lost your appetite, you push your own plate away.

“That’s true,” Aki admits. “Your safety could still be compromised. Witness protection might —”

You abruptly stand, bracing your hands on the table. You’re trying to keep your breathing slow and steady, wracking your brain for the techniques you’ve learned in your virtual therapy sessions.

But your voice still shakes when you tell him, “I don’t want that.”

If the price is safety is a new identity and the complete abandonment of your old life… you’re not sure it’s worth it.

Aki’s expression softens as he walks around the table, placing his hands on your shoulders. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard.”

You know you shouldn’t say it. That despite the semblance of closeness between you, this is still a job for Aki. You’re his responsibility, nothing more than that.

But the words come spilling out all the same. “I don’t want to leave you,” you whisper.

Aki goes very still, his lips parting as he stares at you. Neither of you moves, or even seems to breathe, for several long moments — until he sighs.

“Fuck.”

Your eyes widen. You’ve never heard Aki swear.

His fingers tighten on your shoulders, tugging at the fabric of your t-shirt. “You think I want you to leave?”

“I… I don’t know… I’m just a job, right?”

“No.” He looks almost offended by your question, his lips twisting into a frown. “Maybe you were, but… you haven’t been for a while now. Not for me.”

You wonder if he can feel your body grow warmer as he continues, his voice low and fervent, “It’s inappropriate. I’ve never allowed this to happen, getting so close to a protectee.”

Keeping quiet, you give him the space he needs to work through his thoughts. “You’re different,” he finally says, almost helplessly, like he can’t explain it in any other way.

“And the idea of losing you…” A flash of pain flickers across his normally stoic expression. “I can’t…”

You’ve wanted to touch him for weeks, maybe even months, in a way that isn’t tapping his shoulder to let him know you’re there, or playfully nudging his arm after making a joke.

Reaching up, you press your palm to his cheek, and he leans into your touch. This time when he sighs, it’s a small, shuddering thing, and you smile, your thumb rubbing back and forth across his skin.

“Then don’t. Maybe we’re done here —” You glance around at the safe house before looking back at him. Not for the first time, you realize his eyes remind you of the ocean. “— but we’re not done.”

Aki gazes at you for a long moment before slowly turning his head and pressing a kiss against your hand, then another on the inside of your wrist as he reaches up to grasp it.

“I’ll keep you safe,” he murmurs, lips brushing against your skin. “I promise.”

#ghost-party’s drabble advent calendar 🎄#chainsaw man #csm #hayakawa aki #aki x reader #hayakawa aki x reader #aki hayakawa #aki hayakawa x reader

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annisthree · 2 years

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Chapter IV: Piecing it together

previous chapter // series masterlist // next chapter

Pairing: Cassian Andor x Original Female Character

Word Count: ~5k

Warnings: Explicit language, canon typical violence, mutual pining, alcohol, blood, injuries, jealousy

Chapter summary: Having made first contact (and a bit of a commotion) on Scen, Marla and Cassian meet with the representatives of the local rebel cell.

A/N: Cross-posted on AO3 (same username)

When Marla woke up the following day, there was no one else on the ship. It took her a moment to piece together what had happened - whatever Cassian gave her made her sleep through the rest of the previous day and the entire night, leaving her with an almost twenty-four-hour gap. But the pain was gone, and so was - mostly - the wound. It still hurt a bit when she was raising her arm or touching the spot where she was shot, but otherwise, she was pretty much good as new. Her brain, however, was hazy and disorientated, and it took her a moment to recall the previous day's events.

And Cassian was nowhere to be found. Well, fine. He's a big boy, he can handle himself, she thought while fishing out a bag of powered caf from one of the cupboards. Soon enough, the entire common room was filled with the overwhelming aroma of the hot, bitter beverage.

The scent brought back the memory of the previous day and the caf she had at the market. And meeting their informant, the fight, the ride home, Cassian patching her up... There was something strange connected with that last part, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, her brain still hazy with painkillers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the ramp lowering down in the cargo bay, followed by a series of footsteps on the stairs.

'Oh. You're up,' Cassian blurted out, surprised. He stared at her for a moment and then proceeded to take off his backpack and pull out its contents. 'I don't think you should be leaving bed so soon.'

Marla rolled her eyes, 'I'm fine. The wound is pretty much healed, just a bit of a bruise left.'

'Yeah, right.'

'I'm serious. Look,' she raised her blouse to uncover an ugly, large, purple bruise. 'You did an excellent job patching me up, doctor.'

Cassian inspected the area, before abruptly averting his gaze.

'I'll be damned. These must be some good bacta patches,' he commented, shifting his attention onto his backpack. 'Got us some stuff in the town,' he changed the subject. As proof, he threw her a palm-sized object packed in grey paper. It was warm to the touch. 'Hope you liked yesterday's breakfast. The baker saw our little encounter with the Imperial guards and gave us these for half the price. And this,' he threw another object at her, larger but much lighter and softer, 'This is for our meeting later today. One more complaint about the cold coming from you, and I might have to drop you off on Hoth on our way back to the base.'

'So thoughtful of you. What happened? Was it the threat of me dying that made you so soft?'

Cassian huffed and pulled out another wrapped pastry and a black parka jacket. It looked almost exactly like the one he got her, with the exception of the colour - his was deep black, while the one on her lap was a dusty kind of blue, a shade that she would never have chosen for herself.

'Hey, yours is prettier. Why did you get me a blue one?'

'Because it was half off.'

'Oh, so I don't deserve Rebellion credits?'

'I got you breakfast. And clothes. I also, to quote you, did an excellent job patching you up. I can't believe you're still whining.'

Marla murmured something that was a mixture of Fine and Fuck you and bit into the pastry. She couldn't help but notice that Cassian was avoiding making eye contact with her. Shit, did I say something stupid after he gave me those painkillers? She couldn't quite recall the details, apart from getting a bacta patch and being carried to her room (that bit admittedly made her a bit uncomfortable).

Maybe he's just in one of his moods, she thought, stuffing her face with breakfast. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him power up a datapad, the blue light momentarily reflected on his features and in his slightly squinted eyes. It's been a while since he had a chance to shave, and a dark shadow began creeping onto his jaw. Before she could stop herself, she made a silent observation that he looked really well with facial hair; it gave his overall demeanour a bit of an edge.

Can't believe you're doing this again.

'Better get ready. I need someone to help me clean up the secondary engine room before we leave for the meeting,' he muttered absentmindedly, eyes still glued to the datapad.

Marla groaned. She really liked him more when he was avoiding her.

'Have we ever considered that this could be a set-up?'

Marla's breath transformed into a fleeting, misty cloud, painfully reminding her of her stiffened fingers and frozen toes.

'I know I did,' he replied, rubbing his hands together ( definitely need to get some gloves ). 'That's why you're here.'

'I thought I was here because of my outstanding negotiating skills,' she grinned. 'How long do you think till they come?'

'The sun is almost setting. They should be here any minute.'

As instructed, they were waiting at the foot of a small mountain range just outside the town. It was a good distance from the main road, so there wasn't a single soul in sight. In fact, there wasn't much of anything in sight; the bitter cold and the year-round lack of sunshine meant that very few plants were perseverent enough to grow on Scen, so the landscape was mostly bare rocks and dirt, with an occasional naked tree.

The area was eerily quiet, only their shaky breaths disturbing the wailing of the wind. It wasn't therefore hard to distinguish a faint sound of a cocked gun, followed by some shuffling and whispers.

They spotted the strangers soon after. There were at least seven of them, as far as Marla could tell; the five that appeared right in front of them, emerging from behind a small hill, and at least two snipers hidden in the distance.

'The weather is perfect for hunting Runyip,' Cassian declared loudly, one hand making a barely noticeable twitch towards his blaster.

'I hear they're exceptionally aggressive this year,' the man closest to them recited, signalling the rest to lower their guns. 'I apologise for the cold welcome. Needed to make sure.'

'Understandable,' Cassian replied, still visibly tense but no longer reaching for his blaster. 'Thank you for agreeing to speak with us.'

'Well, you come highly recommended. Plus, I hear you gave quite a performance yesterday at the market. You've got my attention,' the man replied with a grin. 'I'm Gaere; this is Sylus, Jon, Norven and Rya,' he said, pointing at his companions. 'Anything more than that we'll discuss once we get to the base. It's not safe here.'

The walk to the base was long and winding. At first, Marla tried to remember each turn and pick up some landmarks, but she quickly realised that all the bloody rocks looked exactly the same to her. She was hoping Cassian had more luck.

True to his word, Gaere remained silent all throughout their journey to the base, and his companions followed suit. Finally, after quite a long hike, they were led to a cave through an entrance hidden behind a large boulder. Two of the insurgents stayed outside, kneeling behind the cover of a rock formation, blaster rifles at the ready.

'So. I hear you came all the way to this Maker-forsaken planet to speak with us. We're flattered. I also hear you're here to discuss some organised Rebellion movement.'

'You hear a lot,' Cassian replied flatly. The leader gave a short chuckle.

'Come on. Let's drop the animosity. We can't offer much in terms of hospitality,' the man gestured around the room, 'But we can offer you some Nog. Homemade. Keeps you warm.'

Marla nodded enthusiastically, a wide grin creeping onto her face.

'Thank you, perhaps later,' Cassian was clearly determined to remain as cold as possible, both in terms of his body and attitude. Marla rolled her eyes and made her way towards a small table, where she was poured a glass of something vaguely yellow and strong-smelling.

'Your boyfriend always this fun?' she heard Gaere whisper as he handed her the drink.

'Not my boyfriend. But, yeah,' she smirked, throwing a quick glance at Cassian.

The man stifled a chuckle and threw her a knowing look. His next words were louder, 'So. What's this Rebellion of yours? How many of you are there? What are you planning to achieve?'

'There aren't that many of us yet, but we're hoping to expand by allying some local cells. And the plan? I suppose, the same as yours. Create as much disruption as possible, and, ultimately, end the Imperial oppression.'

Gaere grinned, 'Ambitious. I assume we're one of the local cells you've been planning to recruit? Why would we join you?'

'Because we want the same thing,' Marla interjected. 'And we can make much more noise together.'

The man smiled at her, taking a long sip of his drink, 'Perhaps. I'm not gonna play hard to get; we have been talking about it for a while. But the thing is, we have something to do here first. So maybe if you help us, we could consider your offer.'

Marla didn't think it was possible for Cassian to tense up even more, and yet here he was. Quickly noting the frown forming on his face, she decided to take over the conversation, 'What exactly would you have us do?'

Gaere took a deep breath and made eye contact with an older woman who stood in the corner of the room. She gave him a slight nod.

'All of us here, we've been born and raised on Scen. When the Republic fell, we did pretty well at deterring the Imperial forces - at one point, it seemed like they gave up on us, clearly not willing to go through all the trouble we were giving them for a planet that is mostly rocks and dust. Well, that was until our beloved and democratically elected governor decided that the Imperial presence would benefit our economy. Of course, we fought back - but the Imperials had already got their foot in the door. Most of those willing to fight were killed within the first week of Imperial presence. The rest is still rotting in jail,' he paused, his thoughts visibly trailing off for a moment. 'You can probably see where I'm going with this. We'll not let them have Scen. Ugly and uninviting as it is, we've spent our entire lives here. All our families are here - or at least the ones that haven't been killed yet. So the goal is to boot the Empire out and make sure our beloved governor gets a lesson about what happens when you sell your soul to the enemy. You help us with that - we can discuss joining you.'

Cassian scoffed, 'How many of you are there? Twenty? Thirty? And how many Imperials are stationed on Scen?'

'Twenty-four,' Gaere corrected calmly, intentionally avoiding the second question. 'I thought impossible odds were the Rebellion's speciality.'

'They are,' Marla offered softly, throwing Cassian a scolding look. 'But we're gonna need more than that. Do you have a plan already in mind?'

'Well, most of the Imperial forces are focused in Weatu. They have a garrison in the southern part of the city - hitting that would eliminate most of their men. As to the governor: you've met Ethre Rioo. She can get you close to him. I hear you're no stranger to undercover missions and assassinations, so I assume you can handle him. Ourselves, we're more of a storm in and blow everyone up kind of people,' he smirked.

'She'll let us assassinate her husband?' Cassian raised one eyebrow.

'To be fair, she did mention she would prefer if we handled him in a way that doesn't necessarily involve killing him,' he grinned. 'But when it comes down to it, she will not interfere. You've met her; she has more reasons to hate the Empire than all of us combined. I trust her completely.'

For the first time since they entered the base, Cassian made eye contact with Marla. She nodded.

'Fine. We'll discuss this with the rest. How can we get in touch with you?'

Gaere signalled to one of his men, who approached him with a small device in his hand, 'Take this. It's modified to use frequencies that normal comlinks don't pick up. We'll be waiting for your decision.'

Cassian took the comlink and placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket.

Marla threw Gaere a somewhat apologetic smile, 'Nice meeting you. Thank you for the hospitality.'

He smiled back at her and picked up a bottle from the table. 'Here. Can't let you leave empty-handed.'

She grinned and nodded thankfully, accepting the gift.

'We'll get in touch soon,' Cassian announced flatly. He threw Marla a meaningful glance and turned away, heading towards the exit. Marla sighed quietly, threw one last smile at the people in the room, and followed Cassian outside.

'Maker, what is wrong with you?' Marla panted, catching up to Cassian's quick pace.

'I don't like him. Don't trust him.'

'Well, I do,' she announced defiantly. 'They're passionate about the fight. We need more people like them,' she added, throwing him a sideways glance. Cassian just shrugged and continued to walk. 'We're gonna need the rest of the crew. And some guns.'

'We haven't decided yet. I have to speak with the General first.'

'Of course you do,' she murmured coldly. 'By the way - you never mentioned your hot date was the governor's wife ,' she added, smirking. Cassian shrugged again, blatantly uninterested in continuing the conversation. Marla caught herself rolling her eyes for a hundredth time this morning and followed behind him, the rest of their time spent in silence.

General Dodonna did not share Cassian's reservations and agreed to send over the rest of their crew along with as many blasters and explosives as the Rebellion could spare (which, to be fair, wasn't much, but it was still better than whatever the local insurgents had).

Aevie, Sal and Zafe arrived the next day, delivered along with a fresh supply of warm blankets and a couple of crates of assorted weaponry. The Blackbird became crowded again, and Marla was glad to finally be able to talk to someone who wasn't either constantly sulking over Maker-knows-what or straight up avoiding her. She noticed Cassian became increasingly more distant as the mission progressed - it started that morning when she got shot and only got worse after they met with Gaere and his men ( Fine, I get it, you don't like them ). She was fairly used to him being quiet, broody and ostentatiously miserable, but the longer this continued, the more awkward it somehow became.

Fine. Whatever. He'll talk eventually.

In the meantime, the company of her fellow squad members was a welcome change. As they sat together in the command room and prepared to discuss the strategy, Marla realised how tense she had been before, laughing with them as they recounted the supply mission they had just returned from.

'Right. Everyone ready?' Cassian's voice cut through a wave of laughter. He approached the holotable and started tinkering with some of the wires. After a couple of seconds, he sighed and looked at Aevie in a silent plea for help.

'Clever little thing, for something constructed in a cave out of cannibalised parts of at least four different devices. I'd love to have a chat with whoever did this,' she started enthusiastically as she began disassembling the comlink, her fingers expertly finding their way through the entangled wires. 'See? The receiver would normally be connected to the binary descrambler, but this one has a signal amplifier stuck in between these two. Pretty clever,' she concluded at Cassian, whose blank stare was an apt summary of the general level of understanding that everyone in the room displayed.

'Is it gonna work with the holotable?'

'Yes, Captain,' she scoffed, slightly offended. 'It's gonna work with the holotable. In fact,' she paused for a moment, pushing some buttons on both the device and the holotable, 'There you go. All set.'

Cassian mumbled some words of acknowledgement and took the modified comlink from her.

'Hey. Maybe it's better if I talk this time?' Marla offered.

'Right. I forgot the two of you are now-' Cassian blurted out sarcastically, giving up mid-sentence. 'Whatever.'

'What? Jealous I have a new friend?'

'No. I just thought you're smarter than to trust someone you've talked to for about half an hour.'

'Didn't say I trust him, Cassian. But that doesn't mean I have to be an ass to him. Especially since, you know, we want them to join us. '

'Whatever,' he shrugged, turning the comlink on.

Marla sighed and tucked her knees up to her chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sal trying to stifle a laugh by burying his face in a mug.

The holotable buzzed for a moment and then displayed a familiar figure of Gaere, the blue light of the projection illuminating the command room.

'Evening. I was just thinking about you lot,' they were greeted by the friendly voice on the other side of the call. 'I assume you're calling to update us on your decision.'

'You assume correctly,' Cassian started slowly.

'We'll be happy to help you with your mission. And we invited over some friends,' Marla interrupted, gesturing to the rest of their crew.

'That's what I was hoping to hear,' Gaere didn't try to hide his excitement. Marla suddenly understood why Cassian was so sceptical about the man - he was so open and sincere it was almost suspicious. Or at least, it must have been suspicious for Cassian - Marla was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt unless proven otherwise. But the contrast between the two men was striking - they couldn't be more different, with Cassian's cold, distanced wariness and Gaere's loud, unconcealed enthusiasm. 'Right on time, too - we were just talking with Ethre about the possible strategies. She thinks she has an idea how to get you close to the governor without raising suspicion. Ethre?' he nodded at someone, and soon a petite redheaded woman appeared next to him - the colour of her hair was, of course, obscured by the transmission, but Marla remembered that colour very well after hours she spent staring at her talking to Cassian in that cantina.

'Yes,' Ethre started, smiling at Cassian. 'If I recall, you mentioned there's a woman in your crew,' Cassian nodded slowly, his eyes quickly darting to Marla. 'Perfect. I was just thinking that I hadn't seen my sister in a while. Perhaps I could have her visit me - my husband has never met her, he's never even cared enough to see any holos of her, so he's not gonna notice anything weird.'

'Wait-' Cassian started, his eyes widening.

'No. Absolutely not. Bad idea,' Marla interrupted loudly, connecting the dots. 'Perhaps Cassian failed to mention I'm not a spy. I'm a pilot. Sorry to disappoint you.'

'Well, that's the only idea I have. Unless you have any other candidates in your crew.'

Marla scanned the room with desperation, 'I don't suppose your sister is... Pantoran? As in, blue-skinned?'

Ethre scoffed quietly in response.

'I have to agree. She's the worst possible person to do this,' Cassian added fervently.

'Well, I don't have any brothers, sorry. Although I assume my sister would travel with some sort of a guard; father wouldn't let her stray so far away from home by herself. So I guess you can consider yourself invited, too.'

Cassian sighed in resignation and rubbed his forehead, 'Great. Kriff this. We'll make it work.'

'Hey! Do I have any say in this?' Marla protested, a rush of panic slowly beginning to fill her mind.

Cassian just looked at her, resigned and suddenly tired. I guess that's a no.

'Great. We're set, then. I'll send over some information about my family. And some clothes,' she added, eyeing Marla slowly.

'Great,' Cassian repeated, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 'We'll be waiting.'

Cassian was not happy. He's done many undercover missions but always preferred to work alone. Even a trained spy can always slip up, and Marla... well, she was definitely not a trained spy. What she was was loud, hot-headed and terribly distracting.

After the finished meeting, the crew unanimously decided to light a campfire outside the ship. To be fair, the Blackbird was well insulated and had active thermal stabilisers, but, as Sal aptly summed up, a campfire is a campfire, kid. Fair enough.

Having gathered some stray pieces of wood and other flammable materials that could be found in their cargo bay, they built a neat stack and set it on fire. As the fire began stabilising, they sat down in a circle one by one, passing a bottle of gifted Nog and admiring the dancing flames. There was very little life on Scen, so the night was mostly silent, the only sounds being an occasional cry of a wild animal in the distance, the loud howl of the wind and the cracking of the fire.

'We have twenty-eight people, eighty per cent of them completely untrained. I don't like these odds,' Aevie declared, wiping off the corner of her lips with a sleeve.

'That's why we have to be smart about it,' Cassian responded slowly, staring into the fire. He didn't like the odds either, but then again, they were rarely in their favour. 'We're gonna have to attack two fronts at once; otherwise, we'll lose the element of surprise. There's the governor, and there's the Imperial command post. If we get to the governor without taking down the Imperials, they will come to his aid. If we handle them first, the word will get to the governor, and he will flee,' he paused, taking a sip of alcohol and passing the bottle along to Sal. 'I think our best shot would be sending the insurgents to the command post, along with one of us to help them organise. We should speak with them tomorrow and see whether there's any intel that could help us plan this - if not, we should do some recon. We need to know their numbers, security detail, and the plan of the area. Once we get that, we can talk strategy. In the meantime,' he choked back a sigh, 'Marla and I will be handling the governor. And trying not to get exposed. Right, Marla?'

She rewarded him with a crooked grimace and a death stare.

'Sounds good,' Zafe interjected, ignoring their silent banter. 'I'll set up a meeting with the insurgents to go over intel on the command post.'

'Good. I think you should take the lead on planning this part, Zafe.'

'Happy to do that. Although I'd love to borrow Marla for the planning part if she's not too busy preparing for the performance of her life,' he sent her a wide grin. 'If I remember correctly, she was one of the few people at the Academy that didn't sleep through the lectures on military strategy. And besides, I'm sure our new rebel friend will be more inclined to agree with the plan if it comes from Marla.'

'Shut up,' Marla mumbled, rolling her eyes and taking a long sip from the bottle.

'What? She seems like a good guy. You know, you can't keep ignoring people like this. Not every man that has feelings for you is an Imperial traitor.'

The drink froze in Marla's throat. Upon regaining her breath, she fixed Zafe with a death stare, purposefully passing the bottle to the next person in line behind him.

'Shut up,' she repeated.

Cassian stared intensely into the flames, avoiding eye contact with anyone, especially Marla. None of them really talked about their lives from before the Rebellion - it didn't really matter, and these kinds of stories were rarely happy; otherwise, they wouldn't be here, chasing the Empire in scrap ships and blowing them up with homemade grenades. He knew Sal fought in the Clone Wars, Aevie was some sort of an aspiring scientist on Pantora, and Marla and Zafe knew each other from the Military Academy. He was happy not to ask questions as long as they did the same.

And yet, he caught himself suddenly focusing on the conversation.

'Imperial traitor, huh? Sounds like good material for a fireside story,' Sal, being the ever-so-subtle man that he was, decided not to let them drop the subject.

Marla sighed with irritation and turned to Zafe, 'Well, buddy, you started this. Go on then, entertain us. You were there.'

Zafe made a wry face and pressed his lips.

'Fine,' Marla sighed. 'There really isn't that much to tell. There was a guy in the Academy. I guess we were together for a while. Then the Empire came, and he decided to jump at the opportunity to make a name for himself. He wasn't particularly skilled or special, so the only way to do that was by trying to sell his friends,' she summarised with as much emotion as if she was describing the weather forecast. 'Alas, that got him a bullet in the head. End of story. Tragic, I know,' she scoffed.

'Wait. What happened?'

'After he got the bullet? Pretty sure you can imagine.'

'No. I mean, what did he do?'

Marla sighed and looked over at Zafe, silently begging for support. He took a moment to think and began slowly, 'When the Republic fell, the orders came in informing us that we are now part of the Imperial army. As you can imagine,' he smirked, 'most people weren't particularly happy about that, so we decided to bunker up on the Academy grounds and resist. I mean, I don't know if you've ever seen the Academy, but it's pretty damn well protected, so as long as we stayed inside, there wasn't much they could do to us. The thing is, after a couple of weeks, some people began going soft. Some were saying that it's our duty to follow orders, that we cannot resist forever, all that bullshit. We were generally happy to stick them outside of the Academy gates and let them run to their Imperial friends. But our friend Bay,' he looked over at Marla with a hint of a sad smile, 'He wasn't satisfied with just joining the Imperials; he wanted to make a grand entrance. So he came up with a clever idea to sneak into the security mainframe and disable our defences.'

'Luckily,' Marla interjected, 'he was just about as sly as he was loyal, so I pieced it together. I caught him by the security mainframe right as he was about to turn off the defences. I convinced him I just wanted to talk, so he let me in. He probably thought I wanted to join him and live happily ever after somewhere on a cosy Imperial station. As you can imagine, that wasn't exactly my dream. I gave him a chance to back out, put a blaster to his head and told him to walk away. He thought I was bluffing,' she took a long sip from the bottle and fixed her stare at the dancing flames. 'I was not.'

Somehow everything around them turned quieter, even the wild animals seemingly intimidated by the heaviness of the silence.

'Funny thing is, this guy,' Marla pointed her chin at Zafe, refusing to take her eyes off the campfire, 'This guy was always telling me that there was something wrong about Bay. At the time, I thought you were just mad we didn't let you sleep at night , ' she finally looked at him, forcing a grin.

'That too,' he grinned back at her and paused for a while. 'Well, let's just say I expect to be consulted before you get into a relationship again.'

'Yeah. Don't hold your breath, buddy. If there's one thing I've learnt from that whole mess, it's that love makes you stupid and naive, and being stupid and naive makes you dead.'

'Oh, come on, don't be so dramatic, Marla,' he scoffed. 'You had some bad luck. Doesn't mean next time will be that bad.'

Marla chuckled loudly, her laughter being the only sound interrupting the heavy silence. She was clearly finished talking, and no one else was particularly eager to start a new topic, the mood suddenly sour.

'Sorry about that,' she said lightly after a long pause, her usual carelessness returning to her voice. 'I promise we have some more entertaining stories from the Academy.'

Cassian suddenly realised he's been playing with a dry twig this entire time, ripping it into small pieces with a ferocity that caught him off guard. He made a conscious effort not to look at Marla - he felt too exposed to sustain eye contact with anyone, especially her. It's probably the alcohol.

There was something unfamiliar in the sadness he identified in his chest. The sadness that, he now realised, has been growing there for weeks, or even more.

He finally found the courage to look at her, searching her face for some clues, some answers. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he thought he recognised the same sadness in her eyes, hidden behind a reflection of the dancing flames. He searched further and noticed the tiny shiver of her parted lips. He stared shamelessly, with all the audacity and boldness of a drunken fool, until she looked back at him.

And then it finally made sense.

#cassian andor x original female character #cassian andor #andor #andor tv series #cassian andor fanfiction #star wars fanfiction #star wars #andor series #rogue one a star wars story

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kiyosamu · 3 years

Text

remember.

----♡----

pairing: rintaro suna x female reader.

genre: yandere, dark, light romance. // one shot, 4k words.

synopsis: abusive relationships can seem impossible to leave. when you open up to a classmate, your life takes a dramatic turn in the best and worst ways imaginable.

content warnings: assault, domestic abuse (not from suna), descriptions of violence, yandere themes.

----♡----

“hey, kid.” suna’s voice caught your attention as you passed by him in the university corridor. he was quiet, only speaking loud enough for you to hear right as you were walking by.

“hey, rintaro.” you stopped for a moment, refusing to look up at the tall man towering over you.

“i haven’t seen you in a while. everything okay?” he leaned against the wall and clutched a textbook to his chest. “you haven’t even been to class. kinda been missing my project partner.”

“you got my work though, right?” you asked him, partially covering your face with your hair. “i emailed it to you.”

“i did.”

“okay… good.” you cleared your throat, awkwardly shuffling and offering a suspiciously sudden goodbye.

“hey, wait-" suna grabbed your wrist to keep you from leaving. the small amount of pressure more than enough on your deep bruise to make you wince.

suna noticed your pained expression and immediately let go, stepping back.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to hurt you. i just wanted to ask you if-“

“it’s okay!” you interrupted, knowing you’d already spoken to him for too long. you needed to get out of there before anyone noticed. “you didn’t hurt me. sorry, i have to go. bye!”

your behaviour was erratic. your speech was rushed; forced and strained with every word as you tried your best to appear normal.

unfortunately it was much harder to pretend everything was okay than you’d originally thought it’d be.

you quickly turned and headed down the hallway to drop off the assignments to your other professor. the last one you’d have to see for the day before heading home. you were almost there. so close you might not even run into him.

you’d hoped, anyway.

----♡----

after seeing your professor, you walked out into the fresh evening air. the cold stinging your cheeks and the wind pushing your hair out of your face.

your cheeks burned from the freezing air, but it was your black eye was that hurt the most.

“i’m sorry, i just lost my temper.” his words echoed in your head, “you shouldn’t have pissed me off.”

you nodded, essentially agreeing with him. it’s true, if he didn’t get mad, he wouldn’t have hit you. and why was he mad? because of something you did. so really, it was your own fault.

you were the one apologizing to him that night. doing anything you could to make it up to him. all of this with a deep purple bruise forming on your face.

when he finally left your dorm and went back to his, you were mentally exhausted. you fell asleep and woke up right before your second class of the day.

he had started forcing you to miss classes, to do everything at home and only go in to submit your work. this was for two reasons.

the first, you could spend more time with him due to your schedules. if yours was freed then you’d have more time together.

the second was to stop you from talking to other men. completely.

...and then he found out suna was your lab partner.

“i don’t want you working with him.”

“i have to. the professor is the one who chooses.”

“then work from home and submit the stuff online. that guy is a manipulator. he’s dangerous and will take advantage of you. i just know it.”

you’d never gotten that type of vibe from suna, but you obeyed your boyfriend because you didn’t want to know what would happen if you didn’t.

secretly, though, you missed class. you missed working with him. laughing, getting to know each other. he’d become a good friend over the past year and since you had the same majors, you two shared quite a few classes.

he was calm. funny and quiet, but definitely not timid. his energy made him come off tough, but not scary. if anything, he made you feel… safe.

just for those few hours you had together.

and whenever class would end, you found yourself missing that feeling.

----♡----

“i have to go to class tomorrow.” you said, refusing to make eye contact with your boyfriend who’d invited himself over to your dorm.

just like he does every. single. night.

“why? you gonna go talk to that suna guy?” he approached you, giving you a terrifying smile that you know wasn’t coming from a place of happiness.

“yuji… please.” your words were barely a whisper when you felt his fingers wrap around your throat. “my professor told me i need to start going. my grades are falling behind.”

his fingers tapped rhythmically against your skin. dancing skillfully as he toyed with the idea of choking you. you held your breath, expecting the worst.

“you should try harder.” he growled, digging his fingertips into your neck and you clenched your eyes closed. “get your grades back up so you don’t have to spend any more time with that guy.”

“okay, okay!” you grabbed onto his wrist and his eyes widened. “i will! i’ll get my grades up so i don’t need to see him anymore.”

“good girl.” he smiled, the evil expression he’d previously worn had melted away into a false image of a kind man. “always listening so well for me.”

yuji leaned in and kissed you. you kissed back, barely, but just enough for him to be satisfied and leave you alone.

“time for me to go.” he sighed as he heard the dorm advisor do a final walk through to knock on the doors and let the students know it was time for guests to leave.

“see you tomorrow?” he asked, tilting your chin up to look at him.

“sure…” you whispered. you trembled under his touch and wanted nothing more than for him to leave your sight.

“good. it’s a date.” he said happily and gave you another kiss, practically skipping down the hallway back to his own room.

you shut and locked your door, desperately wishing that was the last time you’d ever have to see him.

----♡----

“well, well, well.” suna cooed as you took your seat next to him. “as i live and breathe, i never thought i’d see the day. you finally made it to class.”

you nodded and pulled out your books.

“had to. my grades are slipping.” you sighed, looking around at the science classroom. “what are we doing today?”

“lab day.” suna said as he nudged an instruction sheet towards you. “should we put on our coats and get to it?”

“okay...”

you started to have an internal panic attack. your wrists were as bruised as the black eye you were hiding behind your hair.

suna stepped away to get your lab coats.

this would all be visible, and you didn’t want suna (or anyone) to see any of it.

you nervously approached your professor and she looked up at you with a disinterested stare.

“ma’am, i need to be excused from class today.”

“absolutely not.” she scoffed, “unless you want to fail my class, which i know you can’t afford to do, you’ll stay and do your lab.”

you opened your mouth to reply but she kept speaking.

“go put up your hair, roll up your sleeves and get your lab coat on. you should be thankful you have such a competent partner.” she crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair, “actually, i think the two of you should spend some time together. he’s my top student and you definitely need some tutoring.”

“i don’t think that’s necessary-“

“mr. suna, come up here please.”

suna walked up with a confused look, unsure as to why he was being brought in to the conversation.

“something i can help with?” he asked.

“yes,” the professor smiled, “i’d like the two of you to do tutoring sessions a minimum of twice a week, an hour each time. could you do that?”

“oh, sure. i don’t mind.” he smiled, “was that all? we should get to our assignment.”

you felt backed in to a wall. of course you were okay with this, you enjoyed spending time with suna.

unfortunately, you were terrified of the repercussions.

even worse, there was nothing you could do about it.

when you got back to your table, you put your hair up and silently thought of a plan. keep your head down, don’t make eye contact. maybe he wouldn’t notice.

you rolled up your sleeves and put on your white coat. it was barely long enough to hit your wrists, but did a decent job of hiding the bruises.

the first half of the lab went well. suna explained things in a way that made it easy to comprehend and you were genuinely enjoying yourself.

until you completely forgot.

you began to pour the green liquid into the tube. suna was writing his lab report when he looked up and noticed your mistake.

“oh, hey,” he stood up, putting his hand over yours to tilt the container back up. “you need to pour it slower, like this.”

when it started to pour just as he’d wanted, he let go and you found yourself missing the brief comfort of his touch.

“good job! you did it.” suna smiled and you looked up at him with an excited expression. finally. finally you were getting something right.

when the two of you made eye contact, his smile immediately dropped into a look of concern.

“what happened to your eye?”

“oh,” you stepped back, covering it with your hand. “i fell.”

suna carefully held onto your wrist and you winced in pain. his intentions were to move your hand away from your eye, but he took immediate notice of your reaction and pushed your sleeve down.

the bruises in the shape of fingerprints stained your skin a deep purple.

“what about here?” he stepped closer. you tried to read his expression but he looked completely emotionless.

“from the same fall, i’m just clumsy.”

“and your neck?”

suna pushed back your lab coat to see the same fingerprint bruises scattered around your neck.

you were suddenly thankful you’d chosen the table in the far back end of the classroom. nobody was ever watching.

“yeah.” you said, practically a whisper. “i’m just really clumsy.”

suna leaned down and looked into your eyes.

“why don’t i believe you?”

“five more minutes!” the professor called, interrupting your intense conversation and the two of you snapped back into action.

you finished your lab report and quickly packed up your stuff before rushing out the classroom door.

suna followed closely behind.

“it’s your boyfriend, isn’t it?”

you stopped dead in your tracks and turned around to look at him. suna’s expression was no longer emotionless. he was angry.

“okay,” you sighed, grabbing his wrist to pull him to a secluded space outside. the two of you sat down under a large tree, away from everyone else.

“yuji gets upset with me and… hurts me… sometimes.” you choked out. “i haven’t told anyone because i’m scared of what he’ll do to me. i haven’t left him because i’m scared of him. i’m stuck.”

you hadn’t said these words out loud to anyone, ever, and the way they were flowing so freely had you crying before you were even aware of it.

“please don’t tell anyo-“

“i’ll take care of it.”

you looked up at him. suna looked completely calm, his voice smooth and gaze held on you.

“what do you mean?”

suna stood up and ran his hands through his hair.

“i mean i’ll take care of it.” he smiled, “see you tomorrow afternoon for tutoring?”

“wait, suna-“

“later!” he gave you a passive wave before walking back towards the university building.

----♡----

that evening you waited for yuji to come by your dorm, but he never did.

you waited for him to call you, but he didn’t.

you worried about what suna had meant. maybe he was going to talk to him, maybe even threaten him. you’d hoped he wouldn’t do that, but you really didn’t know what he was capable of.

surely the rumours about him couldn’t be true. an honour's chemistry major being involved in a more sinister, underground group that nobody even knew if it was real or made up?

he was too nice. there was no way.

----♡----

after class you headed back to your dorm to get ready for your evening. suna had asked you to meet him under the same tree from the day before. around 7pm.

you debated on calling yuji, but ultimately decided against it. maybe he’d come to his senses. maybe he was remorseful, and just wanted to move on. to leave you alone and pretend your relationship never happened.

that was what you wished for the most.

----♡----

you stepped out into the cold evening air. the wind blowing softly and brushing the hair out of your face.

you clutched your books to your chest and took a short cut through the back fields separating the dorms from the main university campus.

you checked your phone, you were early. suna would be there in about 15 minutes.

you reached down to grab your phone when it was immediately snatched from your hands.

“you did this, didn’t you?” a familiar voice snapped at you. you glanced up to see yuji, sporting a similar black eye and a bandaged cut on his cheek.

“i- no, of course not!”

he rolled his eyes at your reply, clearly not willing to listen to a word you were saying. yuji grabbed your wrists, forcing you to drop your books and pushed you against the back wall of the university.

“you did. tell me right now. everything you said. who you said it to. and why.” the look in his eyes was horrifying. scarier than any other look he’s given you before.

this made it seem like his previous bouts of anger were nothing but minor inconveniences.

“i didn’t-“

yuji pulled back, immediately hitting your chin with a hard punch that knocked your head back into the concrete wall.

“try again.”

your vision was hazy. mind blurring memories together and you couldn’t even form a proper sentence.

you felt a warm, wet sensation cascading down the back of your neck and were immediately soothed by the feeling. the warmth was comfortable, even though you didn’t know what it was from.

yuji’s hand wrapped around your throat and he pressed his forehead to yours. his fingers dug roughly into your windpipe, causing you to choke out the remaining air in your lungs. you felt yourself get sleepy, closing your eyes and letting darkness overtake you as your body went limp.

----♡----

“hey, wake up.”

snapping fingers in your face had you looking around curiously. you couldn’t focus on your surroundings. it was unclear who was with you, unclear what was happening around you, and unclear why you were there.

the sounds of multiple men. grunting, panting. speaking quietly between deep breaths and harsh exertion.

what were they doing?

“hey.” the fingers snapped in front of your face again.

“what…” was all you could manage to say. your body felt heavy. weak. you were just so tired. all you wanted to do was fall asleep. you submitted to the exhaustion, closing your eyes again.

“don’t go to sleep.” a soothing voice lifted the back of your neck, pressing something soft against your head. “stay awake and listen to me.”

“ya like beatin’ up girls, huh?”

whack

“wanna put a girl half your size in the hospital, for what? to feel like more of a man?”

whack

“a real man would never hit a woman.”

whack

“a real man would beat the shit out of losers who do hit women, right ‘tsum?”

“right. maybe we’ll even put him in the hospital.”

whack

“oh, he’s gonna be there once we’re done.”

you finally recognized the last voice. it was suna.

he spoke again, his voice raspy and dark but still audible from where you were.

“i hope to fucking god you didn’t hurt her so badly that she’s knocked out…” suna trailed off and let out a small chuckle. “because there’s nothing i want more than for her to hear you cry like a little bitch when this blade goes right…”

the sound of yuji’s sudden scream was immediately muffled by what you were sure was the hand of the other man.

“…through you.”

your eyes widened and you were starting to understand what was happening.

all you could feel around you was danger.

you started to hyperventilate. panic was taking over.

“focus on me. come on, we need to get out of here.”

“who…” your head started to hurt now. badly.

“my name is osamu.” he bent down and cradled you in his arms, bringing you close to his chest and picking you up bridal style. “hold on to me if you can.”

“i’m scared…” you whispered.

“i know.” he murmured, carrying you away from the scene and back through the field. “i’ll keep you safe. we need to go to the hospital.”

“what about…”

“the only thing you need to worry about is stayin’ awake right now, okay? it’ll all be okay.” osamu’s voice was soothing. his body was warm and his strong arms supported your body in a way that made you never want to leave his hold.

you gave him a weak nod. even if you wanted to get away, you couldn’t. so you decided to trust in this man and hope for the best.

----♡----

“hey, sweetheart.” the calm voice of a nurse slowly woke you up. “you’re finally awake.”

“where…” you choked out, your throat was dry and you could barely make out where you were. it was all so… confusing.

“you’re in the hospital.” she said as she stood on her tiptoes to change the fluids on your iv pole. “you were assaulted. your injuries aren’t good but you’ll make a full recovery.”

the nurse leaned back down and held onto your hand. “you have a real knight in shining armour, you know. your boyfriend hasn’t left your side since you were admitted. he’s going to be so happy when he finds out you woke up.”

boyfriend?

your heart started to race at the thought of yuji coming in. you looked around, preparing for the worst when you heard footsteps enter the room.

“hey, sleepyhead.”

“speak of the devil.” the nurse smiled, giving your hand a squeeze. “i’ll let you two have some privacy. please press the call button if you need anything, i’ll come back and check on you soon.”

the footsteps grew closer and you heard the squeak of a chair being pulled up next to your bed. you opened your eyes to see suna giving you a compassionate smile.

“rintaro?” you whispered, “what are you doing here?”

“making sure you’re okay.” he crossed his arms, “been here since you were admitted.”

you tried your hardest to remember even coming to the hospital, but you just couldn’t. everything was gone after your head hit that wall.

“what… happened?” you asked, your eyes pleading for him to be honest.

“someone attacked you and your boyfriend.” suna leaned in, “do you not remember anything?”

“i remember yuji being upset with me…” you blinked, your mind working as hard as it could to remember something of importance. “my head hit the wall and it’s kind of fuzzy after that.”

“i see.” suna nodded.

“wait, how did you know i was in here?”

“some people mentioned an attack on campus. i got worried when you were late for our study session, and when your phone rang and you didn’t answer i felt like something was up.” he shrugged, taking a moment to think of his next words. “i called the hospital and asked if you were here, and then came right over when they confirmed it.”

“oh. okay…” you went to scratch an itch on your scalp and were met with searing pain at the slightest bit of pressure. “ow!”

“careful.” he smiled, taking your hand away from your head. “it’s gonna be sore for a while.”

“yeah…” you trailed off, trying to make sense of the situation. “what happened to yuji?”

“why do you care?”

“huh?” you glanced at suna who’s expression had turned sour.

“why do you care about what happened to him? he could've killed you.”

“i just wanted to know if he…” your voice was shaky and you tried to compose yourself. “if there was a possibility of him coming after me again.”

“not a single chance.” suna leaned over the railing of the hospital bed and took your hand. “besides, even if there was, i won’t let anything happen to you.”

----♡----

you’d found out yuji had suffered from severe injuries almost taking his life. he was beaten, stabbed, and his spinal cord suffered so much damage he was permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

while you were relieved the abuse would be over, you constantly wondered who had assaulted him.

you remembered telling suna and him saying he’d take care of it, surely that wasn’t him, right? there was no way suna could do something like that.

----♡----

months went by while you recovered from your injuries. you’d been discharged from the hospital after 3 weeks, and suna had stuck by your side every day.

“i’m happy to say you’ve essentially made a full recovery.” the doctor smiled, shaking your hand. “i’m so proud of your progress. you’re truly a walking miracle.”

“what about my memory?” you asked, “when will i remember what happened?”

“oh, you might not ever remember. you hit your head hard and from what we gather, you were unconscious.” the doctor stood up, clutching his clip board before walking out. “it’s probably for the best that you don’t remember what happened. you should focus on moving on, now. take care.”

----♡----

“well, should we celebrate?” suna asked as you walked out of the hospital together. you stopped, causing him to turn and look down at you. “what’s up?”

“i just wanted to say thank you…” you said, feeling your face getting hot. “i don’t think i could’ve done this without you.”

“you could’ve. you’re the strongest person i’ve ever met.” he leaned down, brushing the hair out of your face. the same hair that used to cover the deep bruises, now showing your true complexion. “and the most beautiful.”

you felt your heart flutter at his sudden compliment. suna’s hands found your waist and you instinctively draped your arms over his shoulders.

“you really mean that?” you asked, looking into his eyes.

“of course i do.” he smiled, leaning in to give you the long awaited kiss the two of you had been dying for. his lips were soft and you melted into his arms. he pulled away, resting his forehead on yours. “beautiful in every possible way.”

you felt tears well up as you were being complimented. the sweetest, kindest, most handsome man touching you so delicately and speaking to you with nothing but respect.

you'd completely fallen in love with him, and it was everything you ever could’ve asked for.

----♡----

a few weeks after the two of you made it official, your honeymoon phase was in full force. you couldn’t keep your hands off of each other. you were experiencing your first true relationship that made you feel loved and you cherished at every moment.

one evening, you decided to go to suna’s dorm to surprise him.

knock knock

“rintaro?” you called out, opening the door to let yourself in. “are you home?”

“in here, baby.” he replied from the kitchen. he was sharing an apartment style dorm with two other men, but you hadn’t met them yet. they weren’t ever there when you were.

“we finally get to meet your girl, huh?” one of them cooed as you walked in. he had dyed blonde hair and smirked at you as you walked by. “damn, she’s a looker, huh ‘samu?”

samu… why did that sound familiar?

“don’t be such a pig.” the other boy replied. you realized they were twins when he stood up and walked over to you. he smiled, holding out his hand. “nice to meet ya, i’m osamu.”

osamu.

no.

“my name is osamu…”

it couldn’t be.

“…hold on to me if you can.”

no, no, no.

the memories of the night of the assault came flooding back to you.

it only took a moment to realize...

...it wasn’t a random assault at all.

#suna drabble #rintaro suna #suna angst #rintaro suna angst #haikyuu angst #yandere haikyuu #yandere suna #yandere #haikyuu #suna #osamu miya #atsumu miya #miya twins #inarizaki angst #atsumu angst #osamu angst

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anyroads · 3 years

Text

Jacob: Are Jews the chosen people

Angel: 👀👁Yeah 👀👁👀why👀👁

Jacob: ‘Cause today I woke up and chosen violence

#I’m not even sorry I’m not sorry

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lxstfulbeans · 3 years

Note

Because I woke up and chose violence, let’s have some jealousy hc’s! 🙂

So you know the “What’s good, shawty? Yo man still around?” TikTok prank? Well, rather than it be a prank, let’s have an actual guy say this Y/N. She’s FaceTiming a male classmate for a project and after they discussed enough ideas on the assignment, he gets bold and asks Y/N if her man’s is still around. Now our girl is happy and in a beautiful relationship with her man’s but before she could tell him that he is, her bae decided to have perfect timing cuz he swiper no swiped tf outta that phone to let the chump know “So you’ve chosen death”.

For this request, I’d like to have hc’s of Bakugo, Hawks, Dabi, and Shinsou reacting to such tomfoolery cuz why not? ☺️

TUH- couldn’t be me, but these pranks had me dead 😭✋🏽.

ALSO- THANK Y’ALL SO MUCH FOR 215 FOLLOWERS OMFG- 😭💕❤️

Headcanon: “What’s good shawty? Ya man’s still around?” Reactions.

Katsuki Bakugou:

Okay, now you were just doing this assignment and tryna slay with yo A+ right?

You were partnered up with one of your male classmates, y’all didn’t really talk like that but a grade is a grade, right?

Your amazing, yet bold and brash, angry hedgehog lookin’ ass boyfriend, Katsuki laid in your bed, scrolling through his phone as he ate some of your hot fries.

No matter how bad you wanted them hoes, it was the only thing keeping him quiet until you were finished.

“Aight, so I think we should close off the presentation with a short conclusion, maybe add some additional facts and we’re in the clear.” You said with a sigh, ready to cuddle with your boyfriend after y’all were done with this cuz your head was starting to hurt.

But, this was when lil’ homie was starting to get bold bold.

“Okay, cool.. but can I ask you something before we close out?” He asks, a smirk forming on his face.

“Wassup?” You ask, yawning as you stretched.

“Is your man still around?”

You could not believe your ears, and you know damn well Katsuki heard that shit because you could feel that aura creeping up on your back.

“Boy, who in the he-“

“YOU LISTEN HERE, YOU THIRSTY VIRGIN SACK OF PISS! I DUNNO WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE OR WHO THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU TALKIN’ TO BUT THIS IS MY GIRL RIGHT HERE AND SHE GON’ STAY MY GIRL!”

Mans was real quiet then, lookin’ like he shit himself after realizing he fucked up.

“L-Look man, I was just-“

“NO, BITCH. YOU WERE JuSt ABOUT TO GET OFF MY GIRL PHONE WITH THAT FUCKSHIT AND IF I EVER CATCH YOUR ASS TRYNA SPIT GAME IMMA BLOW YOUR ASS TO HELL!”

And with that, he hung up and dragged you to the bed, wrapping his around around you and locking you close to him.

He was still pissed off but he was still a big baby, and you know it’ll pass until y’all go to class the next day.

Keigo Takami [Hawks]:

You were laying across the bed, your legs across Keigo’s lap as he sat up against the headboard, reading a nice little book as he ate some chicken nuggets y’all shared.

You were on Skype with one of your classmates, one that you never really talked to but had to do the project with him.

Y’all exchanged notes, helped each other with flash cards, took turns with the slides, etc.

You were just about to end the call so you could touch up the project before submitting it until you were caught off guard.

“Okay, good thinking today, [Y/N], but I just have one question if that’s okay?”

“Oh yeah, what’s on ya mind?” You respond, finishing the rest of the notes.

“Is your man still around?”

You dropped your pencil and made the most disgusted look.

You knew Keigo heard that shit when he slammed that book shut and used plenty of his feathers to pick up your laptop and float before him.

You could tell he was dead serious when he had that frown, those stern eyes. He wasn’t playing no games today.

“Listen here, you pathetic dollar store playboy. My dove isn’t going anywhere, she doesn’t want you, and I’ll be damned if any girl would want to even take a peek at your little pecker. ‘Cause that’s real small dick energy right there pal. She’s happy here, and here is where she’ll stay. You could never compare to me, so stay in your fucking place..”

“I-I’m sorry man! I won’t try it aga-“ call ended.

If that wasn’t the hottest thing he’s done, you don’t know what was.

Keigo sighed, closing your laptop and setting it to the side before lifting you up and placing you on top of him.

With his arms wrapped around you, kissing your forehead, he mumbles, “You let me know if that jackass tries that shit again. I’ll give him a personal ass whooping.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, rolling your eyes as you pressed a soft kiss against his bicep.“You do your thang, bae.”

Dabi [Touya Todoroki]:

Dabi laid on your bed, dozing off after a day of villainy.

He dozed to the sound of you working with your classmate over the phone, just over simple homework that he had oh so much trouble with.

While you sat at your desk, he had the nerve to try to be bold while your boyfriend.. your TERRIFYING boyfriend who has NO problems with killings mfs.

“So, can I ask this one question for clarification?” He said.

“Yeah, shoot.”

“Is your man still around?”

Your eyes widened, your brow raised and you were ready to lose your fucking mind. How DARE he try to spit some whack ass game?

Dabi’s eyes shot open, awake and pissed.

He got up and snatched your phone, small flames sparking against his cheek.

“Now, you fucking listen and you listen good, you shrimp dick motherfucker. I am [Y/N]’s man, and I will continue to be her man until the end. She has no time for thirsty wannabes like you. If I ever catch you trying to flirt with my woman.. you better hope I don’t see you in the streets..”

With that chilling threat, he hung up the phone and placed it on the desk, sighing as he calmed down.

“That’s enough books for one night.. now, come cuddle with me, I’m tired.”

#poc writers #anime headcanons #black reader #bnha x poc!reader #bnha x black reader #anime x poc #mha x poc!reader

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rreyie · 3 years

Text

Fight for Us

Chapter ii- A Field

summary- after getting a rather ominous statement from reiner, you figure out exactly what it means.

warnings- major triggers- attempted suicide, guilt, mentions of figurative violence, dark thoughts. read with caution if you are sensitive to those issues.

a/n- this chapter was definitely a hard one to write, but i mean i don’t think it came out terrible? i promise all this angst is temporary and i’ll make it get fluffier :(

Reiner and you sat on the curb of the street, looking up into the midnight sky that hung over the two of you. The moon was at half tonight, and you could see the craters on it even though it was millions of miles away.

A cool breeze came along through the air, sending a shiver down your spine. Reiner could see you shaking out of the corner of his golden eyes, shimmering bright in the pale moonlight.

“You’re cold, aren’t you?” He asked. “You should get home before you catch a cold.”

“I-is that okay?” You ask, body trembling in a weak attempt to stay warm. “I don’t w-wanna leave you here.”

Reiner chuckled. “Don’t worry about me. We’ll catch up in the morning if that’s okay with you.”

You nod, and get yourself up off of the cold pavement. Reiner stays there looking up at the moon, a content expression on his face.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Reiner”, you say, and wave. Turning the opposite direction, you head home to go to sleep for the night.

Before you head too far off, Reiner clears his throat loud enough to make you hear him and turn your attention back to him, a puzzled expression on your face.

“Y/n?” He asks, still not turning away from you.

“What?”

“...I’m sorry.”

You arch a brow at this, not knowing exactly what he meant by this. “You don’t need to be sorry for anything. What are you apologizing to me for, anyway?”

Reiner sighed, one that was barely audible. “You’ll know in the morning.”

———

After heading home confused and partly concerned, you tucked yourself into bed after reading a part of a romance novel you borrowed off your parents bookshelf.

At one point, the two main lovers in the story were frolicking in a field after running away from their disapproving parents. When trying to visualize this, you swore you might have accidentally saw you and Reiner instead of those two lovers.

If only the world was as complicated as that field of flowers.

When you woke up the next morning, it took you a moment to remember your conversation that you and Reiner had last night. His last words before you

left echoed through your head.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, what could that mean? You ask yourself, pondering on this question while slipping out of your nightgown and into your normal day clothes. You shrugged off the question for now, it couldn’t mean anything too deep.

Today you had plans to go into town just for the hell of it. Perhaps a nice shopping day in downtown Marley would be nice, maybe stopping for some coffee or tea afterwards. And of course, you had to pop into the warriors dorms to say hello to Reiner again. He did say he wanted to finish catching up with you.

After getting the rest of your clothing on, you headed out the door to the busy streets of Marley, already crowded with people and merchants. It was like everyone in this country had collectively decided to come out and buy groceries this very hour.

The walk to the headquarters wasn’t long, perhaps fifteen minutes or so from your apartment. Once you got there, you saw two men with blonde hair and a woman with black hair that was rather messy. You could recognize them easily, since they still flaunted some of the features they had when they were children. One was Porco Galliard, another Zeke Yeager, the woman was Pieck Finger.

The first one to notice your presence from across the cobblestone street was Porco. His head instantly turned, and a wide smile formed on his lips.

“Hey, y/n!” He shouted, throwing a hand up in the air and waving it.

You smile, and cross the street to meet the other warriors. Eventually Zeke notices you after lighting a cigarette, followed by Pieck.

“How are you?” Pieck asks, wrapping you in a warm hug. Her demeanor was always soft and comforting, making you feel safe every time you were around her. “You got tall, it feels like the last time I saw you, you were only this high!” She gestures her hand to somewhere around her chest.

“Yeah”, you giggle. “Puberty does wonders I guess. I heard about your victory in Fort Slava, that was pretty cool if I do say so myself.”

“It was, but it was a little terrifying to see a canon being pointed at me every five minutes. But nonetheless it was still cool.” Porco chuckled, and you saw the faintest shade of pink spread across his cheeks. He reached a hand to smooth back his blonde hair, even though he must’ve had a gallon of hair gel on him.

“So um, have you seen Reiner?” You asked them. Porcos face instantly dropped upon hearing his name. “I figured he would be here, since the whole titan shifter thing.”

“He uh, hasn’t showed up to the meeting this morning”, Zeke added, breathing out a puff of grey smoke. You coughed as your nose picked up the scent of ash. “You could probably find him in the dormitories.”

“Thank you Zeke”, you say. “I’d better go find him. He said we would catch up today since we didn’t have the time yesterday. I’ll see you guys later!”

You wave goodbye to them, Zeke and Pieck waving back while Porco just stood there.

Porco didn’t want to admit it, but hearing Reiners name come out of your mouth like that made his blood boil. He saw yesterday the way your eyes lit up when you looked at him, how you hugged him so tightly. And the worst part was that you liked to hang around that asshole, the one who had the chance to make things better, but didn’t. He swore he could do better than him in every way possible.

You walked down the halls to where all the dorms were, all the doors open except one. You assumed Reiner was probably in the occupied room, so you made your way down the hall to that closed door.

Your footsteps echoed in the near empty hallway, boots clacking on the polished floor. Once you came to the door, you gulped down your nervousness and placed three knocks on the wooden door.

There was no reply. You waited patiently for another thirty seconds or so, but soon grew impatient and decided to just open the door.

“Reiner, I was wondering where you wer-“

Your breath was practically stolen from you because of the sight laid out in front of you. Reiner sat on his desk chair, a locked and loaded rifle sitting in his throat. His eyes were dull, hair a mess and skin pale.

You were frozen. You couldn’t comprehend why that rifle was in his mouth. He was always so lively, what the hell was he doing?

Then it clicked.

“...I’m sorry. You’ll understand in the morning.”

He was going to shoot himself.

You ran to his side, trying to hold back an outburst of tears from streaming down your cheeks, you could feel them building up in your eyes. Reiner swiftly pulled out the rifle, a gob of spit coating the head. He let out a few strained coughs, letting you know exactly how deep that rifle was inside his mouth.

“Reiner, what the hell are you doing?” You ask, voice cracking. “Don’t tell me...”

“It’s what it looks like y/n, i know. I just don’t- I can’t- fuck, this is hard to explain...”

Before he could let out another word, you found your arms enveloping his cold body, wrapping around both of his broad shoulders and around his upper back.

“Don’t say anything”, you whisper in his ear. “Just... just sit with me.”

Reiner could feel his tears start to come up too, clumping up at his lashline and threatening to come down.

“I’m s-sorry I’m useless”, he hiccuped. “I-I’m so tired...”

His grip tightened around your back, and he soon found himself clinging to you, the tears rolling down his puffy cheeks. He sniffled, and let out a broken sob. His tears began to soak through your shirt, creating a temporarily stained spot on your shirt. But that was the least of your concern right now.

“You’re- you’re not useless, Reiner”, you say. “You’re everything that this country needs.”

“I’m just holding them back, y-y/n...” he said, almost whispering in a voice you’ve never heard come out from him. “I’m the reason t-that we lost Bertholdt and the others. I would be better with my brains blown out right now.”

You slightly gasp at his statement, but don’t dare to pull away in the state he’s in right now. “Don’t you say that ever again, Reiner. You were chosen for a reason-“

Reiner pulled away from you, tears still rolling down his cheeks. “R-remember what I told you last night? Marcel swayed the decisions to protect Porco. It wasn’t supposed to be me. It shouldn’t have been me, ever.”

“Look at me”, you say, taking ahold of his face, holding his head between your two palms. “You’ve done everything you could- in fact, you’ve done more than I ever could! You’re brilliant, Reiner, you hear me?”

Reiner was trembling at this point, shaking like a nervous puppy at the vet. His eyes were wide with panic, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. You didn’t know what else to say.

Your mind wanders to a darker place for a moment, if you had shown up a minute too late to see his cold body on the floor. What would you have done? How would you have forgiven yourself? You were going to pray tonight for getting the chance to talk him out of it.

His eyes clenched shut, and he buried his head in your shoulder. You could physically feel your heart shatter for Reiner, being in a condition like this. You couldn’t help but cry along with him, not knowing what else to say. Muffled groans and sobs escaped his mouth, quieted by your shirt you were wearing. Each cry felt like somebody was stabbing you repeatedly, the vibrations from his wails shaking you to your core.

“Im sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He wailed. “I’m just so fucking tired of this planet!”

“S-stop apologizing, R-Reiner...” you say, a knot forming in your throat. “L-let’s just go over here, okay? R-Relax.”

You take his hand and guide him up a few steps to lead him to his bed, where he quickly sits down, unable to stand because of the intense emotions. You sit down with him, in fear of what he would do if you left. You reached out a hand, which he quickly started to hold, squeezing your palm.

Reiners cries start to calm, not entirely, but the volume has certainly gone down. He hiccuped twice before speaking clearly.

“Y-you shouldn’t have to see me like this.”

“I’ll take this over your blood all over the floor any day”, you reply, wiping a tear from your cheek. You notice a few staining his, so you quickly reach out a thumb to his cheek and wipe away a salty tear or two.

“Thanks”, he said.

You could hear some yelling outside, the distant chatter of children audible through the wall. You guessed the warrior candidates were out to play during one of the rare breaks they had.

“If Gabi saw me like that”, Reiner began. “I would be screwed. And my mother? Dear god...”

“I’ll keep this a secret if you want to”, you quickly say. “Just make sure you put that rifle somewhere else. It makes me uneasy thinking that you could... you know.”

“I’ll do that”, he adds.

“Good”, you say. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you. It’s out of protection.”

Reiner nods. “I get it.”

After sitting in comfortable silence for a moment, Reiners mouth opens, as if he was going to say something. But nothing came out.

You turn to him, confused about what he was trying to do. “Something wrong?”

“It’s nothing”, he said. “I’ve just been thinking about... about how you’ve been here all this time. When we were kids you cleaned me up after Porco beat the shit out of me. You even brought me stuff to eat when we couldn’t afford much. And now you’re here... after all of this. Why? Why are you here?”

Now that you thought about it, why were you here? What had compelled you to stick with him? Was there something more than platonic feelings towards him, No, no. That couldn’t be right, you thought. You’re only feeling these things because you missed him.

“Because... you’re my friend”, you quickly answer. “This is what friends do.”

A minuscule smile curved on Reiners pale lips, indicating he was content with your answer. “Huh.”

After sitting in a few more seconds of utter quietness, Reiner looks at the clock and quickly gets up, smoothing out the folds on his uniform. “Fuck. I told the others we would go out for drinks tonight. Plus the festival is tomorrow. Uh, wanna come with us? I’m positive the others won’t mind.”

“I don’t see why not”, you reply.

“Alright”, he says. “I’ll go shower. We’re going to the pub at 7.”

“So it’s a date?” You ask.

Reiners brow arches. “What?”

You cover your mouth, shocked at what you just said. “I-it’s a saying. Like i’ll be there. Not an actual date, of course not-“

“Oh. That’s okay”, he cuts you off. “I’ll um, see you at eight then?”

“Perfect”, you say, heading to the door, heat rising to your cheeks. “See you then!”

As you close the door, you immediately face palm yourself and sigh. Why the hell did that come out of you? Now Reiner was totally going to suspect that you felt something that is definitely not platonic, and he might leave you!

After realizing how much overthinking you were doing, that finally tore it. You felt something different for Reiner Braun. But you were going to have to hide it for a while now.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin #aot hcs #aot headcanons #snk headcanons #reiner x reader #reiner braun x reader #reiner braun #aot reiner #reiner aot #snk reiner #reiner snk #aot fanfiction #aot fanfic #reiner #snk fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction

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starshiningsirius · 3 years

Text

Affection (Yandere Floyd x reader)

Turns out @minteasketches birthday is the day before mine and I couldn't decide who I wanted to write for so I asked for a few of her favorite characters and had a draft for Floyd that would have sat. So I'll just post this on her birthday as a gift and have this be my post for my birthday too! Happy Birthday by the way you wonderful writer and artist I love your work!🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

"I really don't like youuu~"

Floyd took a step closer towards the student with a menacing look in his eyes. Anyone who pissed him off had hell to pay for it that was for sure. He would make sure he never layed his disgusting fingers on her again.

His adorable little shrimpy that he adored so much. It was always oh so tempting to hold her close and squeeze her tight, which is what he usually did on the daily basis, but today was different. She had to spend time with another student and denied his affections promptly. After she had left him after apologizing Floyd went into depression again. His shrimpy never failed to brighten his day. Except today of course, when he didn't feel like going to club, specially not with his bad mood.

"Why does she have to spend time with someone else, can't she see I need her more." He released a sigh thinking more and more about the whole situation, her words recalling in his mind.

Then an idea popped up in his head. He could always spend time with her afterwards. She mentioned going to the library to tutor, he'd surprise her there, as soon as she was done!

He arrived there early then the supposed study session. He was actually hiding behind a bookshelf waiting for her to arrive. He noticed one student sitting their waiting impatiently. He assumed that he was the idiot who needed some help. After a little while he finally saw her arrive. It did irritate him to see her with someone else, but he knew the kind of person Y/n was and leaving someone to fail just wasn't her.

Overtime he started to see her become frustrated which wasn't like her in the slightest. She even taught the little sea otter who was beyond hope when it came to teaching him something. She was ever patient and calm the entire time. This guy managed to piss her off so easily, he had to be doing something wrong, at least that's what Floyd deduced. Seeing her so angry made him both curious and annoyed. What could he possibly have said to make her mad?

Floyd at least had a bit more constraint in him today and decided to listen in to gain some understanding.

"Hey, why do you always spend time with that eel?"

"Can you focus please?"

"Why as far as I'm concerned your hanging out with a crazy pyscho merman? He's gotta be forcing you." This student was really getting on his nerves.

He took his time away from his shrimpy, and for what to spread lies and try to pull her away from him. Not only that he placed his hand on her and she looked discomforted by it, never did she feel that way when Floyd would hug her randomly. It really didn't sit well with him, he was agitated and beyond that rage filled his system. That was never a good sign for anyone nearby.

He was about a second from taking the student and squeezing the life out of him literally. Until he saw his little shrimp stand from her seat.

"An arrogant bastard like you could never compare Floyd! He's far more sweet and lovable then you'll ever be! Don't you dare ever say shit about him!" She actually punched him across his face which surprised Floyd greatly cause the impact knocked the student out of his chair.

She immediately picked up her books and went off towards her dorm Floyd assumed, he couldn't keep his eyes off her until she exited the library. His heart was pounding faster in his chest and a smile ecstasy. Shrimpy really thought of him like that huh?

It definitely made him feel happy to learn how she felt. Maybe he should tell her he feels the same too! Ah, but Floyd still doesn't know himself what the feeling is but since Jade's so smart he'll just ask him!

He heard the groans of the student on the ground which brought him out of his thoughts. He saw the student getting back up from the floor murmuring curses and insulting his darling Shrimpy. It definitely reminded him of his rage against him for taking up her time in the first place, but now he insults her it struck a sense of bloodlust in the eel. He shouldn't do this in here though, he's sure Jade could help him get rid of any evidence too.

. . .

"Angelfish where are youuuu~?"

"Floyd-" She couldn't speak for a second cause a pair of long arms wrapped around her neck, covering her mouth, and a head nuzzled in her cheek.

"Yup~" He showed her a sharp toothed smile.

"Floyd you seem overly happy these days, has something happened?"

"Huh~ What do ya mean Shrimpy? I get to spend more time with you that always makes me happy!"

She was relieved on the inside since she tried calling him yesterday after the library incident and he didn't pick up. She called Jade too but he said his brother was doing something important for Azul, for a second there she thought she had put him in one of his bad mood swings by denying him.

Speaking of which,

"Floyd?" He wouldn't stop nuzzling her until he heard her voice calling him.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about yesterday, I shouldn't have denied your offer, that guy was a total prick. I should have chosen you instead. If you forgive me I'll get you some candy at Sam's Shop?" She tried to offer him.

"Eh? It's fine Shrimpy but since your offering I want to get some and share it with you!" He seemed far more cheerful than the mood you left him in yesterday. Usually his mood swings would last the whole day and bargaining him with something would work even his brother didn't have control over him all the time.

It definitely felt strange in her mind but she had to dismiss it with Floyd pulling her arm in the direction of the school store.

. . .

He had brought a lot of supplies from the store more than usual. As she had asked out of curiosity he said it was a surprise. Later on the next day she found out that the surprise was making takoyaki together.

It really did surprise her, seeing Floyd be this thoughtful took her by surprise. He was more of a PDA type rather than wholesome cooking together. She did tell him once that she wanted to try it once with him,, after learning his favorite food. That was a while ago though and for him to remember such a small detail like that. She shrugged it off as nothing though and went about doing the instructions Floyd gave as they worked together in the Octanivelle kitchen.

Both of them were enjoying themselves and when it came time to heat them up he put in one last ingredient mixing with the cream color mixture. He didn't want to tell her what it was but he said it was extra special.

When it came time that it was all done he told her to open wide.

"Shrimpy come on open up~! I want you to try the first bite of this new batch so you can tell me what you think! " He looked happy and stared at her in anticipation.

The gaze had her face turning red in which she could hear the laugh of the other twin within the empty Monstro Lounge. She didn't want to keep him waiting so she did as he was told and opened her mouth.

Soon as the sphere shaped food had entered and she had chewed the taste was weird, normal savory flavor but with the taste of something she couldn't put her finger on.

It wasn't that many of the food and as soon as she finished she had another pressed to her lips. Until it was all gone did the process repeat. That's when her vision began to get hazy.

"Floyd I don't feel so well. I think I need to go to the infirmary." Her body swayed as tried standing before she could take a step her body fell over tripping on air possibly.

"Eh~ What do you mean, Angelfish? You don't need to rely on anyone else but me." He had pulled her toward his chest the warmth lulling her senses into a gentle slumber.

. . .

When she woke up she found herself in Floyd's room, the messy appearance of it familiar to her. It was strange though since she couldn't remember coming into the room or falling asleep. The taste of takoyaki though remained on her tongue and she recalled a couple of things including the so called 'special ingredient' Floyd put in a few of them that he got from Azul.

It must have put her to sleep, but why would Floyd do something like this?

When she heard the door open she looked up and saw the man in question. He was elated to finally see her awake and ran over to you quickly.

"Angelfish! Your finally up! Great that means we can play now!" One word in particular stood out to her.

"Angelfish? You usually call me Shrimpy. Floyd what's going on?" She was confused and wanted answers but it only made the eel happy.

"Oh your mine now! That little study session of yours with that annoying little crab, you defended me, it was so amazing to see you angry for me Angelfish! It made me so happy so I had to show my affection back some way."

"What do you mean?" She did not like where this was going. She had used violence which was unlike her but with Floyd's seeing it too it's not a good thing for how he would interpret it. She did like the eel of course but she might have put the life of a student in danger.

"He was trying to take my angelfish away from me, so I let him know just how much I love you! Jade said it'd be good to show you how much and you used violence so I should do the same!" He nuzzled his mouth near her neck invoking a shiver to crawl up the girl's spine as he inhaled her scent.

That guy was right about him being dangerous, but he only did want to show you his affection.

Masterlist

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #yandere twisted wonderland #twst #yandere floyd leech #twst floyd #floyd leech #octavinelle #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland floyd

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bvidzsoo · 3 years

Text

Playing with fire

Author: bvidzsoo

Warnings: mentions of sexual situations, light violence, sexual assault mentions

Pairing: Wen Junhui x female reader

Word count: 14, 360

Summary: You are on your own in a man-ruled world. Whatever you do, whatever you say, just make sure it doesn’t piss them off. And you feel alone, you never experienced any parental love let alone a partner. But things change for the better when five mysterious men show up in town, but maybe they aren’t who everyone thinks they are? After all, five bandits are on the loose for robbing numerous places.

A/N: Hello, hello lovelies! Welcome back to a wild-west themed oneshot! This story was totally inspired by Baekhyun’s Bambi MV and well, I couldn’t help myself! There’s nothing very graphic in the story, just wanted to point that out. There might be a few things that couldn’t have happened in that era, but this is fiction, so please turn a blind eye to it. I hope the jump between the timelines won’t be confusing as I tried out something new! Hope you like it and your feedback is always appreciated! Enjoy now.

Present time

My teeth clattered against each other involuntarily. Mainly it was due to the chill air that surrounded me, but fear also played along. I’ve never been inside a prison cell before, but I guess the time comes for everything. My robes were covered in dirt and torn in various places due to the events that took place not even an hour ago. Many people would regret getting involved into something like this, but I wasn’t. I knew my inevitable death was approaching, but I couldn’t feel sorry for finally having chosen to live a bit. Do something that I wanted to do without being forced into doing it. My eyes got used to the darkness surrounding this underground place, but I couldn’t help squint when footsteps echoed around in the far end. The silhouette was tall and wore dark clothes as his feet dragged along the cold tiles, menacingly approaching me.

Two weeks ago

My fingers were covered in wrinkles from the excessive scrubbing I had to do with a wet rug. Mornings were always a little bit rough, having to clean up the mess the customers left at night was bothersome at first, but then it became bearable. It brought money; I couldn’t complain too much. I worked at an Inn, because quite frankly, this was the best I could do. We lived in a man ruled world, where the woman was created to please him left and right, with no right to an opinion. You just bow your head and go on with your life, acting like a house rat. Squeak once too loudly and tomorrow you won’t be breathing anymore. It was unfair, how little respect women were offered, after all, these dirty bastards wouldn’t be here if we didn’t give birth to them. But as a woman, you weren’t supposed to think about such things…actually, you weren’t really supposed to think at all. Just entertain blindly, do the house chores, feed the hungry, make dozens of children and please your husband…or any man, really. I learned it the hard way, after multiple beatings when I dared to speak back to a man, I learned my place.

My family was poorer than the already poor ones, no one really raised me, I just grew up and learned by myself how things worked in this world. When I turned fifteen, I realized if I wanted to live a longer life, I would have to earn my own money as my parents provided none for me. I ran away from my hometown, which was two hours away in the middle of the hot desert from the current town I was living in, and settled down here. This town was bigger and paid better, after all, the second headquarter of the National Bank was here. All types of people came and went, yet the locals knew everyone and paid close attention to the newcomers. They were wary, especially ever since a gang of five bandits started robbing banks all around the South. No one knew what they looked like; however, they were able to find out their leader’s name could be Kwan. All sheriffs were looking for this bandit group, so far, they weren’t very successful.

The door opened and the bell chimed atrociously loudly, ringing through the quiet Inn. It was nine in the morning, no one bothered to come in, unless they stayed at the lodge upstairs or forgot to go home last night. I was at the bar, wiping the glasses dry with a yellow towel, when the customer approached me. I glanced up to see a very handsome, young, man standing and looking around. His lips were full and his hair fell neatly onto his forehead. He wore clean clothes, even smelt good, and I straightened my posture, totally forgetting about the rags I was wearing.

“Well…why don’t you sit down, young sir?” I let my voice take a soft tone, dare I say, seductive as the man turned his gaze onto me. He hummed and took a seat on the stool, leaning his hands against the bar.

“Good morning.” His voice was warm and my lips pulled into a big smile. Handsome and well mannered? Was this my lucky day?

“Good morning,” I bat my eyelashes at him timidly, hoping he’d find it attractive, “Would you like to have anything specific?”

“Well…” His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes fell on the shelves behind me, “Do you have something that’s not alcohol?”

I chuckled, leaning against the bar, “Sir, with all due respect, does it look like you walked into a Caffe? This is an Inn…”

“Ah,” He muttered, smiling at me embarrassed, “I must have missed the street…”

“It happens to new people in town.” I muttered, placing a clean glass in front of the stranger.

“You know I’m new in town?” The man’s eyebrows rose and I laughed, head falling a bit backwards. I grabbed the chamomile tea I prepared an hour ago for myself and poured half of it into the glass.

“Sweetheart,” I licked my lips, taking a gulp of the tea that remained in the tall bottle I was holding, “Only two types of people dressed like that come in here. The rich boys looking for a fun night from the north side of the town or the tourists who happen to be passing through the town.”

The man eyed the content of the glass I just poured tea into and then looked back at me, “The name’s Joshua. What did you pour for me?”

“Chamomile tea,” I said with a sigh, finding his name unusual, “You are lucky I woke up a little stressed today. Chamomile tea has the ability to calm your nerves a bit, you know?”

“I did not know.” Joshua muttered and raised his glass to take a sip of the tea, “And it’s not even bad.”

“Of course, it’s not bad!” I exclaimed with a laugh, “I made it.”

“And you must have a name?” Joshua’s eyebrows rose and I glanced around, making sure no one was listening to our conversation. I didn’t use my real name at the Inn.

“It’s Y/N.” I muttered lowly and Joshua hummed, looking around.

“It seems to be deserted here…”

“Sweetheart,” I laughed again, truly amazed by how naïve this man seemed to be, “Inn’s are only full at night, people don’t come here at day, only if they are drunk already.”

“That’s a pity,” Joshua’s lips pulled into a grin, and I returned it as it was contagious, “They are missing out on some luscious chamomile tea.”

I laughed loudly as the bell chimed again, signaling a new client. It wasn’t a client this time, it was Little James, the boy who delivered the newspaper.

“Newspaper!” He hollered loudly as if the place was noisy, throwing down a stack of newspaper at the entrance.

“Bring one here, Little James!” I beckoned the boy, “And stop shouting, everyone can hear you crystal clear if you speak at a normal volume.”

Little James ran up to me with a pout, holding a newspaper to his chest, “But Big James told me to shout while I distribute these.”

“Big James probably forgot to tell you that you only need to shout at the market.” I ruffled the boy’s blonde hair, taking the newspaper from him. I glanced at Joshua, he was staring down at his tea, so I swiftly grabbed a little sack of cookies from the counter and gave it to Little James. He stuffed it into his pocket and offered me a wide grin.

“Miss Katie, you are the best!” He exclaimed as he ran off, leaving the door of the Inn open behind him. I didn’t mind, the fresh air of the morning was welcome.

“Miss Katie?” Joshua’s eyebrows rose as I sat in the chair by the sink, a few steps away from where I was just standing.

“That would be me.” I hummed as I unfolded the newspaper, checking the first page as the hot news were there.

“I thought your name—”

“People know me as Katie here, I don’t use my real name.” I explained absentmindedly as my eyes ran over the words. A big WANTED sign and underneath five black figures with question marks on their faces, coated most part of the first page. There was a new robbery, but at a pawnshop this time, just two hours away from this town. My hometown. Jewelry and money were taken, quite at a high value, and sheriffs were desperately asking people to keep their eyes and ears open, to help capture these bandits. They also made an estimated map of where these five men were headed, and this town was next. I huffed as I browsed through the other news, eyes falling on Joshua when I heard rustling of paper. He was also reading a newspaper, left leg crossed over the right as a subtle, smug, smile slipped onto his lips. I narrowed my eyes at him as I folded my newspaper, leaning forward to rest my elbows onto my knees.

“Found anything you like?” I spoke up, making Joshua jump. He peeked at me through his eyelashes as he cleared his throat, then evened his expression.

“Not really…just the usual news about these five bandits stealing some more.” I couldn’t help but notice the smug tone of his voice as he spoke, controlling his expressions this time.

“Yeah…they’ve been causing quite the chaos for these past three months, haven’t they?” Joshua hummed in agreement as he flipped through the newspaper elegantly, as if he was afraid, he’d rip the paper.

“Well…word says they are headed here.” I raised my eyebrows at Joshua and he mirrored my actions, “You should be careful when you speak to a stranger again.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time your friends come around.” I winked at Joshua as he stood from his seat.

His eyes narrowed just the slightest bit as he searched his pockets, “Who said I’m traveling with friends?”

“A man like you wouldn’t be traveling alone.” I just shrugged and dryly gulped when I saw the amount of money, he threw on the table. He folded the newspaper and tucked it underneath his armpit; I stood to grab some change to hand back.

“I’ll take this with myself.” He referred to the newspaper as he bowed his head a little and I nodded, crouching down to count the money I needed to hand back.

“Sweetheart, here’s your—” I stood alone in the Inn, behind the bar, as Joshua disappeared, door closed now. I stared down at the change in my hands, then at the money on the table. Without a second thought, I grabbed it before my greasy boss could see it, and tucked it carefully into the top of my corset. This money will last me for a week at least.

The next day, another two strangers walked in. It wasn’t in the morning this time, but almost lunch time. I was actually getting ready to place out my cold rice onto the counter to eat, when the doorbell chimed. With a heavy sigh, I ignored the churning of my belly, and tried to smile. Unlike Joshua yesterday, who blatantly approached me, these two men sat at a table close by the exit. One was shorter and his eyes seemed to be narrowed as he glanced at the few people already inside the Inn, and the other one was a little bit taller as he stood with his hip jutting to the right a little bit. The shorter one must have felt my eyes on them because he turned around and glared at me. He was intimidating and as I was about to look away, but he raised his arm and called me over. I dusted my hands off on some rug from the counter as I walked around it to approach their table. They both took a seat and watched me as I stopped a few feet away.

“Welcome to our Inn,” I greeted politely, using the same tone I used on Joshua yesterday, “Anything you’d like?”

“What’s your best drink?” The taller one asked and I glanced back at the bar, to see if we still had Bourbon.

“It would be the Bourbon, young sir.” My answer made the man laugh, as the other one smirked amused.

“That’s a horrible way to call me, don’t you think?” He raised his eyebrows and I shrugged my shoulder; I called everyone like that.

“It’s Seungkwan,” He grinned, extending his hand, “I’ll take that Bourbon…”

“Katie,” I shook the man’s extended hand with a small smile, “I’ll bring it over just in a second, and for you…”

The shorter man, who was actually about my height, looked at the bar, “What are you drinking?”

I stared at him surprised before clearing my throat, “Chamomile tea, young—”

“That’s really awkward, my name’s Woozi.” He cut me off before I could finish my sentence, “I’ll drink Chamomile tea.”

I nodded my head and walked to the bar, stopping by a table when they waved me down. The man didn’t have anything to ask for, he just called me over for a snide remark. I remained emotionless as I walked to the bar, ignoring the laughter that followed the table after the man’s words. They were the worst customers, always pissing me off. They were from the north side of the town and only came here to make fun of others and bully them. The man who called me over for nothing, his name was Sehun, and he loved to torment me. I grabbed two glasses and poured Bourbon into one and Chamomile into the other after I placed them on a tray. I held the tray with both hands and walked to the table of the strangers, making sure to avoid walking by Sehun’s table as it wouldn’t be the first time, he’d try tripping me while I was carrying something.

“Here,” I whispered as I placed the glass of Bourbon in front of Seungkwan, and the glass of Chamomile tea in front of Woozi. I held the tray to my chest and went to walk away when Woozi pointed at the newspaper on the table.

“Didn’t this make the first page yesterday too?” He asked, eyes watching me. I craned my neck to see the same news as yesterday, the one both Joshua and I read together.

“I suppose,” I said with a shrug, standing back straight, “People must be panicking since the sheriffs said the group is headed this town.”

Woozi and Seungkwan chuckled at the same time, sharing a knowing glance, and my eyebrows furrowed. First Joshua, now these two. They weren’t dressed as fancy as Joshua, or Sehun’s group for that matter, but their clothes were clean and their cologne smelt nice. Even if they weren’t from the north side of the town, they definitely had enough money to take care of themselves. There wasn’t a middle class in this town, you were either poor or rich, so they too weren’t from around here.

“Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t possibly stop these boys.” Seungkwan chuckled at Woozi’s words and I raised my eyebrows intrigued.

“Why not?”

“Woozi likes investigating crimes, Katie,” Seungkwan explained, his lips forming into a pout, “He has a lot of knowledge and evidence point out that these bandits are well prepared and hard to catch, they leave no traces.”

“You said Woozi likes to investigate, but seems like you know a lot too, sweetheart.” I smirked at the two men, their lips pulling into amused smiles.

“Well, Woozi is my brother, we share the same interests.” Seungkwan explained and I hummed, widening my eyes. Did they really expect me to believe that lie?

“You don’t look very much alike.”

Woozi hummed then pushed the newspaper away, “We get that a lot.”

I narrowed my eyes at them, but when they looked away, I knew it was my cue to leave. I nodded to myself, turned to leave, but a thought made me halt, “You don’t happen to know Joshua, do you?”

Seungkwan laughed as Woozi glared at me, staying silent as he took a gulp of the tea, “Who is Joshua?”

I shook my head as I started to walk away, “Just a tourist, like you two.”

And these tourists seemed to have a lot of money as they tipped me even better than Joshua did yesterday. It made up for the few dollars Sehun, accidentally as he said, forgot to pay.

The third time more strangers showed up, it was the afternoon and more people populated the Inn this time. When the first man entered, he seemed lost and confused, it almost made me laugh. You could hear the bell chime, but the loud chatter of men and women slowly would grow louder and louder. This stranger seemed like he didn’t know if he wanted to stay or not, so I approached him.

“Good evening, would you like a seat at the table or at the bar?” I asked with a smile, raising my eyebrows when the man remained silent for a few minutes.

“I’m with someone…” He trailed off and I hummed, looking around for an empty table. I found one next to a bigger group of people that were the loudest in the Inn so far, and I led the stranger to it. He thanked me quietly and looked around awkwardly.

“Anything you’d like to have?” I raised my eyebrows and he looked back at me with a grimace.

“Bourbon, and do you have anything to eat?”

“Smashed potatoes and stew, as of now, if you wait longer the cook will return to prepare more dishes.” The stranger hummed and seemed to be thinking for a second.

“No, it’s fine, bring me two portions…please.” I smiled at him and nodded my head, walking to the bar. I prepared the glass of Bourbon and asked Aleksi to prepare two plates of smashed potatoes and stew. When I got back to the table, I placed the two glasses on top of it, and smiled at the man sitting there awkwardly.

“My name is Katie, if you need anything, just call out my name!” The stranger nodded and I left to gather the empty beer bottles from the loud table nearby. I placed them on my tray, there were at least six, and turned to walk back to the bar when my shoe got stuck in a misplaced floorboard and I was sent flying forward. I yelped and got ready to feel the hard floor, but instead I was hauled backwards, bottles clinking together, but none fell. A few eyes fell on us as I let out a deep breath, gaze connecting with Aleksi’s, who was shaking his head with a grimace. I let myself lean into the body that was holding me for a second, glad that I didn’t cause a bigger scene. The frame was taller and leaner than mine, the top of my head reached their shoulders. Big, calloused hands held my waist firmly and I jumped when the man chuckled from behind. I quickly stepped out of their hold and turned to thank them for their help. But when my eyes fell on his face, I was awestruck. I haven’t seen a man as handsome as him before. His nose was long and well defined, his lips plump. His dark eyebrows complimented his face nicely and his sharp eyes felt like they were staring into my soul. He stood there too, watching me, looking just as amazed. It was a weird feeling and I walked away giggling when Aleksi shouted my name. Their food was prepared and I cleared my throat before walking back over, subconsciously pushing the few stray strands that fell out of my braid behind my ear. The first stranger to enter stopped looking so awkward and he was actually smiling now as he conversed with the handsome stranger. When I got close enough to hear what they were saying, I couldn’t understand anything, they were talking in a different language I haven’t heard before.

“Dinner’s ready.” I cursed myself quietly for the breathy voice, but I couldn’t help it when the stranger looked at me so intently.

“I hope you like smashed potatoes and stew.” I said with an innocent smile as I placed the plate in front of the man that caught me from falling. He glanced at the food before looking back at me.

“Anything that you bring I will like.” His voice was light, but it had a deep ring to it, as he spoke. I chuckled, blinking rapidly before biting my lower lip. I knew the charm was working when a smirk crossed his lips and he stared at my lips.

“If you see anything else you’d like to have…” His eyes lit up with mischief, “Call for Katie.”

“I need a few tissues…” The other man muttered with a grimace, very displeased by the exchange happening between his friend and I.

“Anything, you say?” He sharp eyed man raised his eyebrows, ignoring his friend’s remark.

“As long as it’s on the menu…” I said with a chuckle, playing with the tray in my hands.

“Do you not have special treats here?”

“Only on Friday’s.” The stranger bit his lower lip and I smirked, feeling heated all of the sudden.

“If you have a list…put me on it as first,” I giggled and nodded my head, “The name’s Junhui.”

“Junhui.” I repeated after him, the two of us sharing a small smile, “Consider it already done.”

“Great.” He winked before grabbing his fork to eat his dinner, “Oh, and…I think Minghao asked for tissues?”

“Yeah, I did.” Minghao threw Junhui a glance before he offered me a small, uncomfortable, smile.

“Of course, one second!” I grinned at the two foreigners and went to the bar to grab a few tissues for them. I didn’t know who these two were, but I sure hoped they’d stay for a little longer. Were they with Joshua, Woozi, and Seungkwan? It could be possible, but they could be just tourists passing by. It’s not so rare. However, people stopped traveling so often out of fear of getting robbed. We haven’t had tourists in over a month. These five strangers felt…fishy. But what do I know? I’m just a waitress at an Inn.

Present time

I didn’t look up when the figure stopped in front of my prison cell. I knew it was an officer; a very familiar one; and that he would mock me. They couldn’t wait for someone to commit a crime so that they can torture them for it.

“Well, look at that!” The officer’s voice was mocking, like I expected it, “If it isn’t Katie…”

I didn’t react as I continued staring at my feet, trying to hide the shake of my body. It was from the cold, but the officer standing in front of me, made me realize just how real everything that happened was. How my death was closer each second.

“Won’t you look at me?” I didn’t want the officer to enter the cell, so I shook my head. He scoffed and hit something hard against the metal bars, the loud clank made me jump. The officer laughed loudly and I could feel his burning gaze on me.

“I told them all not to trust the little whore you are, now you’ll finally go where you belong to.” I bit my lower lip, palms clenching into fists as I tried to remain silent. If I spoke back, I’d die in a beating and not by getting hung. And quite frankly, I prefer getting hung in the town square. Maybe I’ll make headlines and my parents will see their only child is now dead.

There was a scoff before the officer started walking, his hard footsteps echoing around the place, “See you in hell, officer.”

Two weeks ago, Friday

The Inn was full of people. A local lousy band was playing some music, but the chatter and laughter of men and women was louder. There were no empty tables, some customers even sat on the front porch and enjoyed the party there. The staircase leading up to the lodge was also occupied by drunk men who didn’t find a table. Aleksi and Andrei worked at the bar, while Joy, Maria, Luna, and I rushed around the place, trying to please everyone. Fridays were the most hectic days besides Saturdays, when you couldn’t take even a second long break. It was hard to maneuver around drunk people, especially the dancing women, but thankfully I always found the safest route to the table I had to rush to. That table excluded the one where Sehun and his boys were sitting at, playing some card games and throwing money on the table. They even managed to charm into their gambling game a few men from the table next to theirs, men who were already poor and had nothing to offer. And they wouldn’t win as Sehun and his boys cheated at any given chance. He made a comment about how tonight I wore clean clothes instead of the rugs I’m usually in, when I was delivering their fifth round of expensive beer. I only glared at him and walked away before he could comment anything. Yes, it was true, I wore my most expensive dress tonight. It was white and no one in their right mind would wear it to a place like this one, where you can stain it easily, but I was expecting someone. Junhui. He said he would be here tonight…well, he didn’t explicitly say it, but it’s what he meant. And I glanced at the clock to see it hit midnight with him nowhere around. I was disappointed, but I couldn’t focus on what I was feeling as an old man gripped onto me. It was Mr. Lee, the biggest drunk of the town.

“Oh,” His eyebrows were furrowed and I grimaced at the foul scent, “Katie?”

I nodded and his eyes were barely open as he raised a hand, “Walk me to the exit!”

His slurred words were barely audible over the loudness inside the Inn, but he was a regular here, I already knew what he wanted. I called out for Joy, to ask her to take over the order from the table I just served, and placed one of Mr. Lee’s arms around my shoulders.

“Let’s get you out, old man.” I shouted and he grinned, his yellow teeth showing. We stumbled around the tables, hitting a few people on our way out, and I groaned when his stumbling made us run into the corner of the entrance. The old man laughed loudly and I threw him a glare, that I knew he couldn’t see, as we finally made it outside.

“Katie!” It was an officer, leaning against the railing, “Did you forget to bring me my beer?!”

“Of course, not!” I exclaimed as we walked around a half-asleep woman, “I asked Joy to deliver it to you.”

The officer grimaced and looked at Mr. Lee, leaving me the impression that he’d offer to help, but when he started laughing, I realized he wouldn’t help. He was here to have fun and suddenly what I was doing was entertaining him. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from throwing him a menacing glare and held Mr. Lee’s side as firmly as I could as we had to walk down the few stairs of the porch.

“Now, Mr. Lee—” I turned my head towards him, trying to gain his attention, “I need you to focus and keep your balance, alright? The stairs aren’t easy to conquer!”

“Conquer it all!” Mr. Lee exclaimed, making the people laugh who heard him, as he stumbled forward. I shrieked, unable to untangle myself from him, as he pulled me after him. We were supposed to tumble down the stairs, maybe twist an ankle or something, but I never made it down the stairs, unlike Mr. Lee. His feet became a tangled mess and he was rolling down the stairs, people hollering in laughter around us. My eyes widened as I watched the old man sprawl out on his back, mouth in a wide grin. He seemed amused by what happened but I feared his old bones weren’t strong enough for even a small fall like that one. No one seemed to want to help him up and as I went to step down the first stair, I realized someone was holding onto my waist tightly. My shoulders tensed and I turned my head, eyebrows furrowed. However, it wasn’t the person I was expecting to be, it was even better. Junhui. My eyes must have lit up because the man started smirking, squeezing my waist.

“Well, if it isn’t Katie…” He muttered smugly and I bit my lower lip, gazing into his eyes, “Do you stumble on purpose when I’m around? You want me to catch you?”

I giggled and did nothing to move out of his hold, “It’s not on purpose, but it certainly is more fun.”

“Just admit it—” I raised my eyebrows as Jun leaned his head a little down, “You want me to hold you.”

I raised my chin, to be closer to his face, and returned his little smirk, “Why would I want that when you could do other better things to me?”

Junhui’s eyes narrowed and I blinked up at him, my smirk turning innocent as he chuckled. His hold loosened on my waist as he opened his mouth to speak, but someone interrupted him.

“Is this how you treat your customers?” The officer’s voice rang out as I turned my head, “You leave an old man lying on the cold ground?”

I couldn’t help but throw him a glare as a second ago he wasn’t even willing to help.

“No need to cause a scene, now,” The soft voice alerted a few people as they turned towards the stranger standing next to Mr. Lee. It was Joshua, and he was helping the old man up, “You can’t expect a woman to carry around a drunk, heavy man, officer. Maybe if you helped before they stumbled this wouldn’t have happened.”

A few people started muttering as they threw Joshua various glances, making the officer’s jaw clench. Mr. Lee was on his feet and Joshua dusted his pants a little as the old man tried to stand straight.

“Will you find your way home?” Joshua asked politely, gripping Mr. Lee’s shoulder.

“Yes, sir, yes!” Mr. Lee did a slopy salute and everyone laughed, making Joshua smile. He returned the salute and Mr. Lee turned his body as he started singing loudly. He slowly started walking away and I moved out of Junhui’s hold.

“When did you arrive?” I asked as I faced him, ignoring the glares of the officer.

“A good hour ago.” Jun answered as Joshua approached us.

“Good evening.” He greeted politely and I giggled, letting him place a kiss against my knuckles. When Jun and Joshua shared a look, I realized they knew each other. And suddenly, standing a few feet away, were Seungkwan, Woozi, and Minghao. When my eyes connected with Woozi’s, I realized my suspicions were all along right. The five strangers knew each other, in fact, they traveled here together.

“Well,” I placed my hands on my hips, “Why did you stay outside?”

“There’s nowhere to sit.” Minghao answered with a pout and I rolled my eyes.

“Maybe if you would have tried looking for me, you would have found a table.” Woozi rolled his eyes as I threw them a displeased glare.

“Lead the way, lady, then.” He gestured inside the Inn and I grinned, gripping Joshua and Junhui’s arms to drag them after me. Once inside, the loudness of the Inn was almost deafening after having stood outside for so long. My eyes scanned the space, of course there were no empty tables, but I spotted some empty space at a table. I grinned to myself and lead the way, losing my grip on Junhui a few times as he seemed unable to keep up with my long strides. When we got to the table, it quieted down as Sehun threw his card on top of the stack with a grin.

“I win—”

“Excuse me, you’ll have to share your table!” I informed Sehun and his boys and didn’t wait for an answer as I pushed Joshua down into the empty seat, “You took the biggest table when you don’t even have enough people for it…now, you share it!”

I could hear Woozi cackle behind me as he passed by and patted a glaring Sehun on the back, plopping down next to Joshua. Minghao seemed reluctant to sit at the table but when I released my grip on Jun, he pulled his friend with him and sat them across from Woozi and Joshua.

“Seungkwan, is the name.” He extended his hand towards Sehun, who took it quickly and shook it, Seungkwan’s face all serious and cold. It was different from when him and Woozi came by, it seemed like he knew Sehun was the leader of the band of baboons and wanted to show him he wouldn’t put up with bullshit coming from them tonight. My eyes landed on Jun and he threw me a flirty wink, I blushed.

“Bring over your finest beer, Katie!” He cheered loudly and I chuckled, turning around to bring the beers for him and the rest.

The Inn was just as full as hours ago, however, it had quieted down a notch as the somewhat sober people headed home and the drunk ones remained. The lousy band departed a long time ago after we gave them free drinks, and finally all workers of the Inn could take a little break. My feet were killing me and the corset of this dress was a lot tighter than I initially thought it would be, my lungs were screaming to be released. But we still had two more hours of work, it had to wait. My eyes scanned over the empty tables, Joy and Luna have cleaned them up already, as they stopped on the biggest table. They were making a mess, three were standing on the table and singing loudly some old song, while the others continued playing cards between each other. Somehow, they got Jun and his friends involved into the game too, however, Sehun lost each round. Which made him angry and therefore it made him drink even more. He disappeared a while ago and I assumed he just went somewhere with a woman, like he does every time he’s here, and would return the next day. My eyes were drawn back at Junhui, who watched me closely the whole night, and I smiled at him. His sharp eyes narrowed before he looked down at his single card in his hand, then threw it on the table. Seungkwan and Woozi started cheering loudly as Junhui smirked and looked at me. He won again and Sehun’s friend pushed a smaller pouch of money onto the table, Woozi grabbed it greedily. I chuckled as Jun winked at me, then turned to look at his sleeping friend. Minghao’s head was resting on the table, he was sitting a bit further from them, as he slept. Joshua was walking around the Inn, which was surprising, and making conversation with people. He even had two men trailing after him as he conversed with various people, sometimes even offered to bring them drinks. Aleksi didn’t like it much, but when Joshua brought the money, they paid, over Aleksi stopped complaining.

“My break is up, go take a breather.” Luna’s voice caught my attention as she walked up to me, tying her small apron around her hips. I hummed and undid my own apron, throwing it at Andrei. He caught it with a hiss, throwing me a small glare. I just shrugged and walked around the counter, downing the glass of water he placed there for me. Andrei and I had a complicated relationship, we weren’t on good terms but we looked out for each other. He helped me get this job when I moved into town but after we started working together, we realized how annoying the other was. I downed another glass of water in one good, humming in appreciation as the water finally washed over the dryness of my throat. My dress had a small pocket, I sew it there, and I tapped it to see if it still contained what I have placed there at the beginning of my shift. When I felt the thick object, I headed to the backdoor and pushed it open, the chilly air of morning greeting me. It was refreshing to be outside after a night of running around and pleasing everyone, I would have to wash up before going to sleep as I had sweat more than usual this time. I fished the match and tobacco out of my little pocket, leaning against the wooden planks of the Inn. I lit the match and placed the tobacco in my mouth, sucking on it hard to make it light up. Tobacco was expensive, I would smoke it from time to time if the girls had it, but Junhui and his friends left so much money during their visits that I could finally afford to buy one for myself. The taste burned the back of my neck and I coughed quietly as I let it settle, blowing out the smoke. Finally, I had time to think and rest. I was expecting Junhui to approach me at some point of the night, but all he did was constantly order drinks and he’d refuse to take them unless it was me serving them. I could feel the tension between him and Sehun, as both were immersed in playing cards, and both were cheating. Sehun finally found his match. I chuckled when I remembered how pissed Sehun looked after the third round was won by Jun once again, and looked at my half-finished tobacco. I quickly put it out, not wanting to smoke it in one go. I could save it for later when I was chilling in my room. I placed it back into my pocket and leaned my head against the wooden planks, staring up at the starry sky. It was turning a lighter shade as the sun would soon rise. My quiet peace of moment came to an end when someone’s body heat invaded mine. I straightened up as I looked the person in the eyes, grimacing.

“Finally got you alone…” Sehun’s raspy voice was low, his eyes were narrowed as he still wasn’t sober enough.

“Did you want to get me alone?” I raised my eyebrows, off-thrown by his statement.

“Well…what do you think?” He asked with a chuckle, leaning one hand against the Inn, trapping me between him and the wall.

“I think…” I bit my lower lip, glancing away, “That you’re really annoying and a douchebag.”

Sehun started laughing as I looked back at him with a glare, crossing my arms in front of my chest, “Come on…stop playing so hard to get now. I know you dressed up just for me—”

“What?!” I snapped outraged, scoffing, “You wish, rich filth, I don’t give a damn about you!”

“You’re always so rude!” Sehun suddenly exclaimed, and I jumped before I quickly pushed him back. His tallness was intimidating and he used it to his advantage as he stepped back and gripped onto my hair.

“Let go!” I screamed, clawing at his arm, trying to free myself.

“I’m going to teach you a lesson.” He hissed out and my eyes widened when I felt his other hand trying to undo the front of my dress. I yelped and gripped his hand, pushing him again. His grip on my hair was painful as I struggled against him but I didn’t care, I wanted to free myself.

“Sehun!” I yelped when he gripped my jaw tightly and slammed me against the wooden planks, my head colliding with them. I groaned and fisted his shirt, trying to still push him away. This wasn’t anything new, men did this often, but I didn’t want his filthy hands on me. Especially since it was Sehun. I knew he’d be bragging about it to everyone, I didn’t want this. Suddenly, there was a new voice that exclaimed in a different language and I struggled more against Sehun, knowing who it was.

“Piece of shit!” This time I understood what he said, and the next second Sehun was pushed off me. Junhui and Sehun stared up each other and in a swift motion, Junhui landed a punch to his jaw. Sehun stumbled backwards, clutching the area, as he turned to look at me.

“Whore.” Was all he said before he turned around and ran off. I scoffed and spat on the ground, angered by his words.

“You throw yourself at me but I’m the whore?!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, hopeful that everyone would hear it, as I took deep breaths to calm myself.

“Katie,” Junhui’s voice was soft and I looked at him taken aback, “Did he hurt you?”

“Nothing I’m not used to…” I muttered and undid the ribbon that kept my braid together. Junhui followed my hands with his eyes as I ran my fingers through my wavy hair, massaging the back of my head where I hit it.

“Does he bother you often?” Junhui continued asking and I shook my head with a sigh.

“Not like this.” I answered and attempted to smooth down my, now wrinkled, dress. Why did I even wear it? Junhui is just a tourist, he will be soon gone, and for all I know, he might just be a little bit overly flirty. Why do I always assume people find me attractive?

“Tell me where he lives and I’ll make sure he won’t set foot inside this place ever again.” Junhui’s sharp eyes were narrowed and I laughed as I leaned back against the wooden planks.

“You’re funny!”

“I’m being serios.” I chuckled embarrassed and looked away from Jun, gazing at my feet. He sighed and approached me, taking Sehun’s previous place. This time, I wasn’t bothered. I went stiff when his hands ran up my arms and hovered over my chest. I looked up into his eyes and he gulped as he averted his gaze.

“He undid it…” He muttered, voice weak, and I smiled, “It’s a—pretty dress.”

I giggled and looked down to see his fingers delicately tying the dress back together, “Thank you, I wore it because I hoped you’d come tonight.”

Junhui paused and I smiled at him innocently, “You did ask me to sign you up as first customer on the ‘special treats’ list, didn’t you?”

Junhui opened his mouth to say something but he couldn’t as he gulped again, it made me giggle once again. I took his hands away from the top of my dress and placed them around my hips, pulling Jun into me.

“It seems like you really like holding me.” I teased him with a grin and he rolled his eyes, sneaking his arms around my hips tightly. His eyes dropped onto my lips and I quickly licked them, pressing up onto my tip toes to connect our lips. My eyes fluttered closed as Junhui’s lips pressed back against mine eagerly. His lips were cold and rough, he tasted like all the alcohol he’s been drinking all night, but I wasn’t bothered. My arms sneaked around his shoulders as I urged him to lean lower down so that I wouldn’t have to stand on my toes and made a surprised noise when he tried to push his tongue into my mouth. His scent was mixed with sweat and aloe vera, a very weird scent indeed. I opened my mouth to grant him access and he moaned as he sucked on my tongue, making me suck in a harsh breath. He pushed me up against the wooden planks, trapping me further between himself and the Inn, my body curving up into his. I moaned and pulled on the ends of his hair when he groped my breast through my dress, squeezing it appreciatively. Perhaps I wasn’t so wrong this time, this handsome stranger might have found me pretty attractive as he still hasn’t pushed me away.

One week ago, Monday

The Inn was closed for today, Aleksi wanted to do a thorough clean as Saturday’s little party left a big mess. Besides, he now had enough money to repair the bathroom for the workers and rebuild the back of the barn, where the wooden planks had rotten over time. Andrei and him were busy, they probably wouldn’t finish by dusk but with the money, he could afford to call over a few men tomorrow to finish the construction instead of them. Only Luna and I worked today, as they other girls asked for a free day and well…I live upstairs, so I really had no excuse but to come and work. And Luna…she hates her husband nowadays so she spends most of her time at the Inn with me. Which kind of brought us closer, I didn’t really have friends in this town. I didn’t have the time nor the energy to invest it into making connections.

I let a sigh fall from my lips as I finally finished scrubbing the floor clean, it was practically shinning now. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it this clean…what a pity it’ll be ruined by tomorrow. Luna was singing along to the soft tunes of the radio, cleaning off the storage room as she had finished with the bar already.

“You’re in a good mood.” I commented as I raised to my feet, approaching the woman. She glanced back at me with a cheeky smile before giggling.

“Indeed, I am.”

“Well…won’t you tell me why?” I pressed on, my curious nature pushing through. Luna sighed before she turned to face me, leaning against the shelf.

“Yunho was called to work in the mines that are five hours from here.” She answered with a grin, sighing dreamily, “I finally get to be on my own—for two months!”

I chuckled and raised my eyebrows, feeling a little confused, “Isn’t that bad though? Working in mines is dangerous nowadays…”

“Oh, please!” She exclaimed, rolling her eyes as she turned back to the shelf to continue scrubbing it, “I don’t even care if he never comes back. He’s a sick bastard! I’m done bending to his wishes, everything is about him all the time!”

I hummed and rubbed my hands together, trying to warm them after they froze from having to rub the floor with cold water, “Didn’t you marry him because you loved him?”

“That was five years ago!” Luna laughed, shaking her head, “Nothing lasts forever, you know, Y/N…”

I hummed and bit my lower lip, thoughts flying to Junhui. Indeed, nothing lasts forever. I’m not even sure he’s still in town. After we kissed, he left without a word and by the time I went inside, everyone who came with him were also gone. It was really disappointing, I thought I’d get to spend more time with him. Maybe, get to know him better, maybe, we’d end up sending letters to each other. It was nice to dream.

“Y/N?” I looked at Luna questioningly, not having heard what she said, “I asked…how are things going with lover boy?”

“Lover boy?” I asked confused, thoughts instantly swerving to Sehun. Maybe she heard me scream after him or maybe Sehun already started spreading lies about what happened.

“The handsome foreigner!” Luna exclaimed, coming to stand in front of me, and gripped my hands into hers, “Please! I saw the looks you exchanged and—”

“And…what?” I urged her on to speak as I watched a mischievous smirk spread on the woman’s lips.

“And…I saw you two having that very fiery make-out behind the Inn on Friday.” My cheeks suddenly felt hot and I averted my eyes from Luna’s, looking anywhere but at her.

“Look who’s shy now!” Luna teased and I rolled my eyes, snatching my hands out of hers.

“Shut up…” I muttered embarrassed, taking a few steps away from her.

“Honey, I’m glad you’re finally enjoying yourself. All you do is work and run away from people—”

“That’s not true!” I opposed with a scowl but Luna just chuckled.

“Sure, honey…besides, he seemed like a genuine man.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, hearing the front doorbell ring, “He’s also probably gone by now and I’m—”

“Anyone there?” My throat closed up and my eyes went wide as Luna smirked, retreating back inside the storage room.

“Go!” She whisper-shouted, quietly closing the door. I scoffed but walked to the front quickly, eyes falling on the tall young man. He wore clean clothes, his hair was a bit tousled, and he held his hat in his hands in front of his torso.

“Hello,” I offered him a shy smile, “We’re currently closed, maybe tomorrow—”

“I’m not here to drink.” Junhui’s words cut me off and I gulped, hope filling my thoughts. Was he here to see me? Maybe he’ll ask me to go with him on his journey? Will I finally be free?!

“I heard there’s a lodge attached to this Inn; I’d like to rent a room for a few days.” Oh. I cleared my throat and tried to mask how disappointed I felt hearing his words.

“Yeah, you heard right, Junhui, we have a lodge…” I muttered and went to the bar, “What kind of room do you want?”

“Fitting for a person.” He answered quickly as he came closer, leaning against the counter as I crouched down to search for the keys.

“One person?” I asked as I grabbed one key, “Aren’t you traveling in five?”

Jun looked away before clearing his throat, “The others are staying somewhere else, I—didn’t find a room there—”

“Right.” I gave him a look as I straightened up. He was lying, I knew it by the way he avoided eye contact and played with his fingers. But who was I to ask anything? He was acting like the kiss didn’t even happen, so, I didn’t know how else to act but oblivious.

“Follow me.” I called as I walked around the counter and headed for the stairs leading upstairs. Junhui was hot on my tail and I glanced back to see him raise an eyebrow at me.

“Anything wrong?” He asked wonderingly and I shook my head, biting my lower lip.

“No, nothing in particular,” I lied as we went up to the third floor, “Just—aren’t you afraid to travel during these times?”

“Why? Should I be?” Junhui asked with a chuckle and I shrugged again as we came into the long hallway, on both sides, numerous doors stood to our service.

“The sheriffs have estimated the group of five bandits was headed this town…and…well, no one has been really traveling ever since they started robbing out of fear of getting robbed as well.” I spoke as I lead Junhui down the long hallway.

“Are you trying to assume something here?” Jun asked with a chuckle, but his voice held an accusatory undertone to it, and I shrugged again. We stopped in front of room nr. 888 and I pushed the key into the hole to unlock the door.

“I don’t know…does it sound like I’m assuming something?” I muttered, more to myself, as Jun walked in after me, “I don’t know, honestly…It’s just weird the five of you show up here, you are strangers to this town, and one of you is called Seungkwan. Don’t you think? I’m not trying to accuse you of anything, I’ve just been thinking—”

The door was suddenly slammed closed behind me and Junhui was standing in front of me in a second, his hand gripping my neck tightly as I was walked backwards and into the door. The collision wasn’t as harsh as with Sehun, Junhui’s eyes have darkened and his expression was fierce, but I didn’t feel threatened right now.

“Thinking is dangerous, Y/N…” My eyes widened a bit at the hearing of my real name, Jun’s lips pulled into a cocky smirk.

“How do you know?” I whispered, feeling a bit lightheaded by the hold he had on my neck but also by his closeness. He still carried the scent of aloe verra and it was so foreign that it felt intoxicating.

“From Joshua, of course,” Junhui chuckled and I gripped his wrist, trying to loosen his grip, “Now…this can go two ways, sweetheart. You either shut up and keep this revelation to yourself or—I will have to get rid of you…”

“What?!” I exclaimed quietly, eyes growing wider than ever before, the air leaving my lungs from shock, “You’re—the—bandits—”

“Why are you acting so surprised?” Junhui chuckled as his finger started stroking the skin of my neck, “Didn’t you just accuse me of—”

Junhui stopped talking, realizing his mistake, and I remained gaping.

“I didn’t accuse you of anything! I was just…assuming?” Junhui hissed and closed his eyes, letting go of my neck. I rubbed the skin with my own hand and took two deep breaths, watching a distressed Junhui.

“Fuck!” He hissed to himself, opening his eyes to look at me. He didn’t step back, and I didn’t move away either. I wanted to be close to him.

“Listen, I—”

“If you tell anyone, Y/N, I swear I will kill you.” His voice dropped octaves and became dangerous, finally, I felt like a prey and a shiver ran down my spine, “I don’t care how pretty and nice you are—I will kill you.”

Realization dawned on me, that in fact, the man standing in front of me wasn’t any kind of tourist. He really is part of the bandit group. He is a bandit, himself. I gulped and licked my lips, trying to mask how nervous I felt.

“I won’t tell anyone—”

“How can I know that?” He snapped, but it felt like he was more frustrated with himself than me.

“I—” I huffed, running a hand through my hair, “You can’t. You will have to trust me, I guess.”

“But can I trust you?” Junhui’s gaze latched onto mine and I felt hypnotized.

“Maybe.” I muttered and my eyes fell on his lips when he sighed out. I knew he saw it when he took a tiny step, to be even closer to me.

“What if…” A smirk came onto his lips and my heart started racing as he looked me up and down, “I offer you something in exchange of keeping our secret?”

My skin felt on fire when Junhui’s fingers trailed over my exposed collarbones, coming to rest on the front of my dress, “I don’t need anything to keep your—”

My words got muffled by Junhui’s lips pressing on mine and I reacted instantly, fingers curling into his hair. The next thing I knew, I was naked, and then, Junhui’s naked body was laying on top of mine, moving in sink with mine. I tried to keep quiet, but no one’s ever made me feel what Junhui did. My heart was beating furiously the whole time and Junhui’s skin felt on fire as he kissed my lips hungrily. And then, I realized, maybe I liked this man a little bit too much. This bandit…how was I going to let go of him now?

One week ago, Wednesday

It was lunch time but the Inn was unnaturally buzzing with people. Most people only came in to get their shot of vodka for the day, but some came to have lunch. Most were working men from the market as this was all they could afford; the Inn wasn’t expensive and they loved it here. I wiped a few glasses clean as Andrei poured some liquor into three tall glasses, calling out my name.

“What?” I muttered as I walked over, looking at him tiredly. I haven’t slept much ever since Junhui’s last visit. My heart raced every time I thought of him and what we had done, and I couldn’t help it but feel sad. Now I knew he was one of the bandits, I never even considered telling anyone, but I knew once they made their robbery they would leave and I’d have no one once again. I longed to have someone who would comfort me and love me, but I accepted that I just wasn’t meant to experience these things. Junhui’s room was right above mine and him walking around and dragging something heavy against the floor for the past two nights made it also hard to sleep.

“Our little new friends ordered these.” Andrei’s finger was pointing at a table of five people. Seungkwan, Woozi, Joshua, Minghao, Jun. I hummed and took the glasses placed on a tray and walked over to their table. Their previous conversation ceased as all eyes fell on me and I gulped nervously as I placed the glasses on their table.

“A bit early to be drinking liquor, isn’t it?” I tried to joke, ease the tension, but it didn’t do anything. Seungkwan and Woozi were glaring daggers at me and it actually scared me, even Joshua had a cold expression as he reached for a glass. Minghao wasn’t paying attention to me as he was muttering something to himself, he was also scribbling something on a paper. And Junhui sighed quietly and placed a hand on my waist to squeeze it swiftly, before grabbing a glass to drink the liquor from it.

“Well…” I cleared my throat and turned to walk away, “Raise your hands if you need anything else.”

“What I need is you keeping your damn mouth shut.” Woozi’s voice was low as he snapped and I bit my lower lip, trying to hold back the tremor of my hands. He was scary, too scary, as he stared me dead in the eyes with the most vicious glare I have ever seen.

“Seriously!” Junhui snapped, slamming a fist onto the table, “I told you I took care of her!”

“How?” Woozi chuckled and Minghao glanced at Junhui then at me, and then proceeded to ignore what was happening.

“I have my ways—”

“Pushing your dick down someone’s throat is not a very convincing way, Junhui.” This time it was Seungkwan who snapped and I gulped, averting my eyes at the accusation. That didn’t happen, even if we had sex. It wasn’t their business what Junhui and I do behind closed doors.

“Shut up.” Junhui snapped, his eyes glaring at both Woozi and Seungkwan threateningly, “Don’t mind them, go do your work.”

I nodded my head slightly and then bolted back to the counter, coming to stand next to Andrei. He was preparing a few drinks and I placed the tray down for him to take when he was done. I went to wash my hands and took deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart and push back the tears that threatened to escape my eyes. I wasn’t expecting their personalities to take such a turn, but I guess I was a threat to them now. I wouldn’t tell anyone, but I guess they couldn’t just blindly trust me like that. Maybe they are planning my death and that’s why they are here, to observe my every move. I groaned at my thoughts and ran my fingers through my wavy hair, deciding to braid it really quick. I was fed up with always getting disrespected by men and I hated how they could always make comments freely without anyone telling them they were inappropriate. If I wasn’t afraid of Woozi and Seungkwan, I would’ve told them a piece of my mind, but once again, that’s never a good idea.

The bell chimed and I looked up to see two officers walking in. One was the same officer who was here on Friday night and didn’t help with Mr. Lee. His eyes swept over the place as the other officer walked around the tables which were occupied. The familiar officer, however, was headed straight our way. Andrei groaned and gave me a side glance.

“Did you do something?” He hissed lowly and I shook my head quickly, straightening my back when the officer stopped across from us.

“Hello.” Andrei greeted with a half-hearted smile and I bowed my head a little bit, eyes falling on the other officer for a split second. He was talking to everyone who was sitting at the tables and I suddenly felt hotter, like I was inside an oven.

“Yeah, yeah…” The officer muttered rudely and then placed a crumbled piece of paper on the counter for us to see. It was the newspaper from last week, the one that was talking about the five bandits headed our town.

“I’m sure you all know by now the bandits are headed this way, have you seen any suspicious movements? Heard anything?” The officer continued and I was itching to look towards the table Junhui was sitting at, but I was afraid it would trigger something in the officer that would make him realize it was them.

“Not really,” Andrei shrugged his shoulders, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “People say a lot of crazy things, but nothing about the bandits.”

“And you?” The officer’s eyes landed on me and I gulped nervously, hiding my trembling hands behind my back as I corrected my posture and opened my mouth to speak.

“There’s five strangers here,” The other officer approached us, cutting me off before I could even say something, “They say they arrived last week and will be leaving this Friday. Apparently, they are some travelers looking for some old artifacts or something like that.”

“Yes,” I spoke up before anyone could say anything else, I cringed at how loud my voice sounded suddenly, “They told me the same thing. I heard they found some old vases in one of their researches! They’ve been renting a room here, even attended the parties last week.”

I made sure to maintain eye contact with the officers as best as I could, to keep my voice leveled and my expression clear and soft. My heart was beating like crazy and my hands were shaking a lot more now, but I tried to ignore those. If I said anything wrong their cover would be screwed up and then I for sure would be dead by tomorrow. Andrei gave me a confused glance but when the officers looked at him questioningly, to confirm what I said, he just shrugged.

“I was on a leave for the past month, only returned recently, so what she says must be true.” I almost sighed out in relief but managed to catch myself before doing it.

“Very well then,” One of the officer’s said as his eyes ran over the place again, my eyes followed his and I smiled a little when I saw Junhui’s table laughing about something, clanking their glasses together, no doubt pretending like they were having fun.

“We’ll be going.” The same officer spoke and turned around to leave. The familiar officer gave me a look, as if he sensed I was lying, but turned and walked out with his partner. I finally relaxed and let a breath out, I felt Andrei’s confused gaze on me.

“Did you lie to them?” He asked skeptically, going back to doing what he was before the officers interrupted us.

“What? Why would I?” I scoffed and wiped my brows, unaware of the sweat that has accumulated there. Andrei just shrugged in response and my eyes inevitably fell on Junhui’s table. Joshua and Minghao were gone but I made eye contact with Woozi. He raised his glass, an amused smirk on his lips, as he tilted it in my direction. Seungkwan also looked smug and when I made eye contact with Junhui I felt a sense of calmness wash over me, as if I just passed an important evaluation. I guess Woozi and Seungkwan were pleased that I didn’t rat them out. When the doorbell chimed again, Joshua and Minghao were holding some big bags in both of their hands as they walked inside. Junhui rose from the table and he played with the keys to his room as he approached the two men, leading the way upstairs. He gave me one last look, and a tiny smile, before all three men disappeared upstairs. I let out a small sigh and took the tray with the drinks when Andrei complained about me being as slow as a snail. They were planning something, and suddenly I was feeling uneasy about knowing who they really were. Was I putting myself in danger indirectly?

Present time

My head snapped up at the sudden sounds echoing through the cold hallway. It sounded like two people struggling and the echo that carried their words here made no sense. My heart started beating quickly and my fingers latched onto the cold bars of the prison cell. I didn’t know what was happening and when keys startled rattling, I knew the end has come for me. This was it; I was going to die at the age of twenty-five for being the accomplice of a robbery. I shut my eyes closed tightly and took deep breaths as heavy footsteps neared me, the sound almost maddening as it felt like forever. I didn’t dare look nor breathe when I felt eyes on me, I didn’t even know how to react. I didn’t want to show fear, but when the cell was unlocked, my whole body started trembling. And then I couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

“Please!” My voice broke, but I still tried to speak, “I didn’t know! I swear I wasn’t helping them—”

I yelped when a strong grip on my forearm yanked me forward, and I didn’t want to open my eyes, but I was afraid I was going to fall and proceed to look even worse.

“Calm down.” My heart somersaulted at the calming voice and my eyes snapped open. Before I could control myself, I jumped into Junhui’s arms, gripping his shirt like my life depended on him. Quite ironically, it did depend on him right now.

“What are you doing here?!” I gasped, unable to let go of him, I was afraid I’d collapse to the ground.

“To get you out, of course.” Jun’s voice was hurried as I felt him move around before pushing me slightly off him, “I know you’re scared, but we have to go now, if we want to get away. Can you gather yourself and do as I say?”

I was still shaking but I took a deep breath and tried to reassure myself that I was capable of doing this. If I didn’t, I would die. And I wasn’t ready to die, not yet, not when I had Junhui in front of me.

“Yes.” We made eye contact and Jun’s lips pulled into a small smile, he patted my head affectionately. I stepped away from him and Jun’s eyes ran over my body quickly, stopping on the end of my skirt. I looked down confused and got even more confused when he kneeled down and gripped the fabric.

“You can’t run in this.” He muttered and suddenly, my dress was getting torn apart. I gasped but didn’t try to stop him, he was right, the long skirt didn’t offer much mobility for my legs. Jun ripped the fabric up until my knees, the feeling was weird, I supposed the dress now looked really ugly. It wasn’t just dirty, but torn too. Junhui stood up and remained still for a second, but then he pressed a quick kiss against my lips and my heart started racing. Did this mean I was going with them?

“Let’s go.” An excited grin appeared on his lips and I took his extended hand, but couldn’t share his enthusiasm. I was supposed to die a few minutes ago, I was still supposed to be dead, if they catch us for the second time. My heart raced as Junhui ran us through the hallways, towards the door through which light flooded the dark and cold dungeon. We were breaking free.

Earlier today, around 9 a.m.

My attention was drawn towards the ruckus coming from the stairs that led upstairs. Aleksi was in the storage room so I allowed myself to abandon washing the dishes and walk to the stairs to see what was happening. My lips formed into a pout as I watched Woozi pull a heavy looking bag after him on the floor, which was the one causing the ruckus. My eyebrows furrowed as I watched him confused while he descended the stairs.

“What are you doing?” I asked, curiosity lacing my tone. Woozi’s head snapped up and he looked at me, his eyes narrowed into intimidating slits. I gulped and pushed myself away from the railing, not wanting to piss him off so early in the morning.

“None of your business.” He snapped with authority in his voice and I nodded once, stepping away.

“Right, sorry…” I muttered and went back to washing the dishes, ignoring the second pair of boots that loudly descended the stairs. The front door opened and Woozi was outside, leaving me alone in the Inn with Junhui. I didn’t turn around when I felt his eyes on me, if Aleksi was to come back now and see that I wasn’t doing my duties, he’d be really angry.

“Y/N,” Junhui quietly called out, knowing it was just the two of us inside for now, “I have something to ask of you.”

I sighed but didn’t turn around to face him, “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to anyone. Even after you disappear…I’ll bring this secret with myself to my grave, I suppose.”

Junhui hummed and remained silent for a few seconds before I heard him sighing, “That’s not what I wanted to ask of you…today…just stay around the Inn, alright? If you want to walk around town, just stay here instead, it’s safer.”

“Whatever you say.” I muttered, drying my hands as I finished washing the dishes.

“And…I wish we had more time to spend together…” I turned to face Junhui, and was surprised when he actually looked sad, “Your company is really pleasant, I think…I think we could have been something more…”

I chuckled and crossed my arms in front of my chest, ignoring the pang in my chest, “Well, yeah…our lifestyles don’t match, I guess. Don’ worry, this happens all the time. I’m sure you’ll find a pretty woman in the next town and forget about me…I’m better off alone, after all.”

Junhui didn’t comment anything further, he just gulped and nodded his head in agreement. The words I said didn’t fit well with me, but after all, I was just saying the truth. I haven’t known this man for long, but he was the first one to respect my boundaries and the first one who didn’t look down on me. It was a nice feeling, but nothing lasts forever.

“Goodbye.” He whispered and I offered him a last smile, disappointed we were parting ways this way.

“Goodbye, Junhui.” His lips pulled into a tight line at the hear of his name and he walked away with a sigh, not looking back. I pursed my lips and looked around the empty place, what if I went with him? Would the others allow me to join him? Would I want to become a bandit myself? But before I could dwell more on these thoughts, Aleksi was standing right next to me.

“Why are you standing there and doing nothing?” He raised his eyebrows and I cleared my throat, evening my expression.

“The guy who occupied room nr.888 just left, I’ll go clean up.” I muttered to Aleksi and walked around the counter, headed for the stairs.

“Good, and after that, go to the market,” He extended his hand and pushed a piece of paper into my hand, “We are running low on a few supplies.”

“Sure…” I muttered and placed the piece of paper into my small pocket, heading up the stairs.

Earlier today, around 1 p.m.

It was a sunny day and the hot sun shone down on us. I was covered in sweat already and I have barely left the Inn five minutes ago. The market was just around the corner so I didn’t have to walk much, which was to my benefit as I wouldn’t have to carry the heavy things for a long time. The market was buzzing with people, sellers and buyers, and the cacophony was worse than most nights at the Inn. I avoided bumping into a woman and her three children as I side stepped them and my eyes fell on the National Bank from across the street. People were coming and going casually, everyone minding their own business. I sighed and stopped at the first stand to buy the vegetables Aleksi had written on the list. My eyes fell on the blonde-haired boy sitting to the back, in the shadow, and I smiled at him.

“Miss Katie!” He exclaimed with a smile, offering me a small wave.

“Enjoying your day off, Little James?” I asked with a chuckle and the young boy nodded with a grin.

“The kid runs so fast he delivers the newspaper way faster than I ever could,” Big James spoke up as he filled my bag with potatoes, “Figured he deserved a day off.”

“That’s nice of you,” I said politely, handing him the money, “He’s a hard-working kid!”

“Like you, Katie!” Big James winked at me and I walked away with a small laugh, eyes falling on the flower stand. It was standing on the side of the Bank and I couldn’t help it but walk there. I always loved flowers, sometimes I would buy some and sneak them inside my room. Aleksi didn’t know about them because I bought them from the money, he gave me to purchase the items he needed. If he were to find out, I’d probably be kicked out, something I didn’t wish for.

“Hello!” The lady offered me a warm smile and I bowed my head in greeting as I touched the petals of the lilies. They were beautiful and I let out a small sigh, glancing down at the money in my other hand. Should I buy some for myself? Would Aleksi notice this time? He didn’t give me much money, maybe I shouldn’t—suddenly screams erupted and as I looked towards the noise, a loud BANG went off and next thing I knew I was thrown to the ground. My side was throbbing as I lay on the sandy ground and my ears were ringing like never before. I was shocked to see people laying on the ground around me, even some of the flowers littered around me. I was confused as I pushed myself up to all fours, trying to gain a sense of the situation. What has happened? Why does everyone look so scared and disoriented and why can’t I hear anything expect the ringing in my ears? I tried to get up to my feet, but I felt a little light headed so I took deep breaths, closing my eyes. But next thing I knew, someone crashed into my body and I cried out, my side throbbing even more. The person said something, I couldn’t understand from the ringing still going on, and then I was roughly hauled up and I froze when I felt something cold pressing against my temple. Suddenly, I became aware of the sirens in the distance and I became even more scared when I saw various vendors pointing their shotguns in my direction. I didn’t understand what was happening, why was I being held at gunpoint? The voices started coming back, my hearing clearing, and then I understood everything.

“If anyone dares to move even one inch, I will shoot this woman to death!” My capturer screamed at the top of his lungs, squeezing my side, making me cry out in pain. The body holding me was solid and firm, I wanted to look who was holding me, but I was afraid if I moved, I’d be dead.

“Leave Katie alone and we can talk this through!” It was Big James, his eyes were narrowed, he was the only one not pointing his shotgun at me directly.

My capturer laughed crazily behind me and I shivered, “You think I’ll fall for that?!”

I whimpered and turned my head slightly when he pressed his chin, which was covered with something, against my cheek, “If you don’t come with me, I will kill you.”

My lips were trembling and I raised my hands in surrender, showing everyone, I was unarmed, “He—he said he’ll—let me go, if—if you don’t shoot—”

The man holding me made an appreciative sound and pulled his head away from me, “Move and you’ll never see Katie again!”

I whimpered again, biting my lower lip when his hand left my side to grip my forearm. The grip was strong and I felt fragile as the man started running, pulling me after him. The shotguns went off and I cried out in fear of getting hit by a bullet, but the man holding me swerved around and made us run behind the bank. As we were running, my eyes fell on the side of the building, and I was shocked to see a huge hole in it. They blew up the bank! These were the bandits! Eyes falling on the man that finally slowed down as we came to a stop next to a black car, I realized it was Woozi. I jumped when he opened the backdoor and pushed me inside harshly, making me hit my face in the cushion. Suddenly, he was sitting inside and the engine of the car was ignited to life and put into movement. I sat up straight in the seat, I’ve never sat inside a car before, my whole-body trembling in fear as I bit my lower rip, trying to stop myself from crying. It was quiet inside the car and I realized five men were sitting inside. Three in the front, the seats were connected, and two on the backseat with me. I knew immediately who they were and it made me more fearful.

“Will—will you kill me?” I choked out and one whipped his head around, his eyes being the only thing I could see through the rag that he wore as a mask to protect his identity.

“I don’t know, should we?” I shook my head furiously ‘no’ and someone hissed.

“Stop fucking around with her! She’s already scared shitless!” Junhui snapped from the driver’s seat and my heart started thumping furiously.

“Why did you even take her?” Joshua’s soft voice was cold and I looked down at my lap.

“She was good distraction, I only got away because the town people didn’t want to shoot her.” Woozi said and suddenly Seungkwan started cackling loudly, throwing his head back. I didn’t understand what was so funny but I didn’t want to find out.

“What are we going to do with her?” Minghao muttered, glancing at me from beside me. I looked away and prayed to myself no one would say ‘kill her’.

“We’ll think about that later!” Junhui snapped before the others could say anything else. And then suddenly, loud sirens could be heard coming from behind us and I turned my head to see the sheriff’s car chasing after ours. Then gunshots rang through, the boys screamed at each other inside the car, and then all I could remember was a loud screeching noise, and the car in the air flipping over. Then, I woke up in a prison cell all alone, hurt and scared.

Present time

Junhui and I had to be silent as we ran through the corridors of the station, having successfully escaped from the dungeon. Jun was guiding me from behind and as we rounded the corner, I ran into a solid body. My cry was silent as my face was pressed into the chest of the man, but before I could start further panicking and making a scene, Junhui pulled me away and I saw it was Joshua. He gave me a glare before exchanging a glance with Junhui and disappearing around the corner.

“What are we doing?” I whispered confused to Jun, raising my eyebrows at him as I pressed myself up against the wall.

“Breaking out.” Junhui answered with a chuckle, looking around the corner. Then he gripped my hand into his and we were running down the long hallway once again, coming to a stop in front of the closed door.

“Listen, once we get out…nothing is guaranteed. Are you ready to make this commitment?” Junhui’s voice was low, warning but reassuring at the same time. I took a deep breath and looked into his eyes as I let the breath out slowly.

“Do you promise not to abandon me then? Will you let me become one of you?” I whispered at Jun, squeezing his hand.

“We don’t have much of a choice, do we?” A smirk pulled onto his lips and I mirrored him, suddenly feeling excited about the promise of a new life.

The door got cracked open suddenly and I jumped scared, looking at Jun, “If you’re done being disgusting, take this.”

It was Woozi and he pushed a handgun into my hand, then another one. I looked at Junhui confused as he took one but left the other for me.

“Don’t shoot any of us—the rest we don’t care about.” My mouth fell open as Woozi opened the door and pulled me outside, shielding my body as he looked around.

“Coast is clear.” He muttered almost so quietly I didn’t hear him, “We only have to get to that car.”

It was the sheriff’s car and it was a good one-hundred-fifteen meters away from where we were standing. I readied myself to run, when suddenly a bullet wheezed past our heads. I screamed and ducked down, Junhui and Woozi forming a barrier around me.

“Fuck, they noticed too quickly!” Junhui hissed as we were ducking behind some old wood kept for heating in the winter.

“Whatever, we have to go!” Woozi shook his head and turned his head to look at me, “You start running first and we’ll make sure you don’t get shot, yeah?”

“What?!” I exclaimed but before what he said could settle in, I was pushed forward and even almost faceplanted into the dirt. Gunshots almost immediately went off and I screamed as I scurried off the ground and started running. I couldn’t help but scream the whole time, gun waving around in my hand, until I got to the car. I rammed into the side of it, chest rising and falling as I tried to shield myself from any further danger, but the shooting didn’t stop even for a second. The driver’s door got thrown open and suddenly I could see Jun and Woozi running our way. They were running in zig-zag as they sprinted towards the car and my eyes widened when one officer, the one I was familiar with, started running after them with his shotgun raised high. My heart thumped wildly and all I could think of was, what if he shoots Junhui? With trembling hands, I raised my arms, gripping the handgun with both tightly, and stepped away from the little safety the car offered. And then I started firing as well, on the verge of screaming once again. But as Junhui jumped inside the car, I pulled the trigger for the last time, and got dragged inside the car by Woozi. My eyes widened when I saw the officer falling to the ground with a loud cry, holding onto his leg. The car door got slammed shut and almost immediately we took off, kicking up dirt behind us. I remained looking ahead shocked, unphased by the dangerous maneuvers Junhui was making. I just shot a man. And then suddenly, everyone in the car was cheering loudly. I yelped when my back was patted roughly by Seungkwan, who was sitting in the back, a wide grin on his lips.

“Welcome to your new life, Y/N.” Seungkwan said with a smirk and a breathy chuckle left my lips as I looked at the five men sitting inside the car.

“I just shot a man!”

“Won’t be your last time.” Joshua said with a proud smirk and I couldn’t say anything.

I never thought my life would turn into this, but oh boy, this was the best choice I made after leaving my hometown.

86 notes · View notes

shoutaaizawas · 4 years

Note

one month anniversary event? hUH can i join?? if it’s no hassle: could i request bakugou in hunger games au! with the prompt “Whatever you do, don’t open your eyes.”? i would love to see what you do, thank you in advance 🥺💞 i love your work, binge worthy 100%. please take care! :)

im so sorry this took FOREVER ilysm your comments give me life thank you for all your support

↳ bakugou katsuki x reader → no final goodbyes

event: au prompts summary: you and bakugou are childhood enemies. when you’re picked for the annual hunger games you’re shocked when he volunteers. word count: 6,599 tags/warnings: hunger games!au, angst, like really angsty 😳, violence, blood mention, character death a/n: uhhhh i’m sorry also there was so much i wanted to put but i had to stop myself or this would have been a whole novel alternate ending

You hated Bakugou Katsuki. You had since you were kids. You grew up in District Seven next door to the Bakugou household. Ever since you could remember you were arguing with Bakugou. Your parents would laugh and say it was normal if he got on your nerves so much maybe it was because you had a crush on him.

The thought had always disgusted you. Sure, as you both got older Bakugou certainly got quite attractive and filled out. He went from a scrawny kid to a man in what felt like overnight, it was hard not to notice his muscles.

You recalled one day you were trying to nap but the repeated sound of banging outside kept waking you. You stormed outside to yell at him but you were not expecting the sight of him shirtless and swinging an ax down onto firewood. Your throat felt like it was drying up and you turned around before he caught you.

When had he gotten attractive? It didn’t matter, he was still the same unbearable Bakugou you had known since you were born. Looks couldn't make up for that personality.

Despite your distaste for each other, Bakugou’s mother insisted he walk with you to school to watch over you. You would complain and say that it was unnecessary but your mother would scold you for being rude and tell you to just accept it.

Some days you’d walk to and from school in silence. Others you would trade insults the whole way earning looks from people you passed.

“They’re picking tributes soon.” You said. It was rare for you to start a normal conversation but the Hunger Games were fast approaching and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t scared. “We’re eighteen now, it’s our last one. It looks like we might make it out.” You said with a dry laugh.

“What are you scared or something?” He replied.

“What? No, I mean what are the chances of getting picked?” You said with a shrug. “You’re probably the one that's scared.” You bit back. So much for having a normal conversation with him.

Time flew by and it was finally the day of the Reaping.

If you thought it was silent before on your walks with Bakugou it was even worse today. Despite the fact you both pretended like you weren’t scared, you were terrified and you knew even Bakugou was nervous.

If he was chosen at least he would stand a chance. He was strong and she had seen how he fought others at school in the past. If it was between him and a trained district kid you’d bet on him every time.

You, on the other hand, you never had held a weapon in your life. You weren’t very strong and not very fast. Your chances were overall bad.

Bakugou stopped as you approached the place where you would go your separate ways.

“Our last one, after this we don’t have to worry.” You said forcing a smile.

“Whatever.” He scoffed before turning to walk to the boy's side.

“I was trying to be nice for once.” You complained. “Screw you, I hope you get picked.”

You might hate Bakugou but you didn’t mean it. In fact, the thought of him getting picked made you feel things you couldn’t explain. After this was over you’d walk home and complain about the boring life you’d have in District Seven and bask in the relief of knowing that you would be safe.

As the escort of District Seven stood on the stage you stood in the crowd tapping your foot. This would be over soon and you could go home and never worry about this again.

“Ladies first.” The woman said fluttering to the left side and drawing from the pool of names there. She opened the paper and announced the name.

Heads turned but one set of eyes burned into you more than others. You couldn’t breathe. You were suffocating, drowning, frozen to the ground. You turned to look at Bakugou from across the crowd. Staring at him, helpless with tears in your eyes. You didn’t know why he was the first person you sought out.

“Come on, dear. Don’t be shy!” The woman said waving you up to the stage.

Taking shaky steps you walked through everyone to the stairs. Standing up there was surreal. It felt like a nightmare. Your eyes stayed on Bakugou’s red ones, how odd you looked to him for comfort in the worst time of your life. You supposed this would be the last time you’d look into those familiar eyes. Why did that make you so sad?

The woman moved to the boy's side and pulled a name but you could hardly pay attention. You snapped out of your fog when you heard a familiar voice.

“I volunteer!” Your eyes snapped to the ash-blond you had known your whole life. What was he thinking?

Bakugou walked to the stage and you stared in disbelief. What was going on?

It was a blur, you were ushered into a room with your parents. They were sobbing, hugging you, holding you like it’d be the last time. Well, it would be the last time, you supposed.

You were led to a train, the inside was decorated far nicer than most things in your district. You sat there feeling numb. It was overwhelming enough being picked but you were trying to wrap your head around Bakugou. Why would he volunteer? None of you ever wanted to be picked. This wasn’t District One where people trained for it.

Bakugou entered and stared at you blankly. You don’t know what happened but something snapped in you.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” You screamed, lunging for him. The escort for your district was quick to make her way to the other side of the train car to avoid the commotion. “Why would you volunteer? Do you have some death wish!?”

You grabbed at his shirt, hitting his chest but he stood still and unmoving not saying a word.

“What about your parents? What about your future? You’re throwing it all away!! It’s bad enough I got picked I didn’t have a choice.” Tears ran down your face uncontrollably. “You had a choice! You had a choice!”

A man you hadn’t seen before pulled you off of Bakugou, leading you to one of the rooms on the train.

“Cool off here for a while.” The man with long black hair said. “It’s a lot to take in. Take your time processing it.”

With that, he closed the door. You laid on the bed, your throat raw from screaming. It didn’t take long for your tears to come. You sobbed and sobbed, curled up on the bed. Why did this happen?

By the time you woke up you hadn’t even realized that you fell asleep. You felt so exhausted. It was still hard to understand everything that had happened. How did you get picked, why could Bakugou volunteer?

You avoided him, not wanting to see him. Every time you thought about him it stirred a rage in you that you didn’t quite understand.

The man that had pulled you off of Bakugou introduced himself as Aizawa Shouta, he was a previous winner from your district. Even though he had won you could see the damage that it left on him. That scared you, even people who won looked miserable.

Aizawa explained that he was to mentor you both and help as much as he could to prepare you for the games. It still didn’t feel real as he explained it all.

Before you knew it you were in the capital, a place you never expected to see. It was big and fancy, far more developed than your district. You followed alongside Aizawa, Bakugou on his other side. You didn’t want to look at him but you still felt the urge to sneak glances at him. When you did his eyes were on you, once you realized that you would look away quickly as if you hadn't been looking in the first place.

The building you were to stay in until the games began were modern and high tech. You stayed in your room, even when you were told dinner was ready. You wanted to be alone, more than that you didn’t want to be around Bakugou.

A knock on the door caught your attention. You cautiously opened it to see Aizawa there with a plate of food. He handed you the plate and you let him in.

“Why won’t you come out for dinner?” He asked.

“I don’t want to see him.” You said, taking a bite of the food even though you didn’t have an appetite. The food was of better quality than anything your family could ever afford. Did they feel better if they spoiled the children before sending them to their deaths?

“He volunteered.” He said the way he said it implied that he knew something that you didn’t.

“Yeah, and that was stupid.” You said. “Why would he choose a death sentence.”

“Things aren’t always that simple.” He said.

You stared at him, trying to comprehend what that meant. What valid motivation could he have?

“I’ll let you get some rest but you have training tomorrow.” He said.

“Training?” You questioned.

“Yeah, you'll have time to train for the games. You should pick something to impress the judges so they’ll give you a good rating.” He said. “If you get a good rating people will support you, send you stuff to help during the game.”

“Oh.” You said. You had seen some of it on TV but you always tried to avoid watching most of it. It made you sick to see children sent off to their deaths. You had seen people you grew up with sent to the games. You supposed you’d have to do the interviews too. How were you supposed to pretend to be some charming person when you were just a lamb for the slaughter?

Days went on and you trained from morning to night, you weren’t strong but you tried to practice with some weapons. An ax felt familiar you used it to chop wood before. It felt pointless, even if you could use it well enough you knew you didn’t have it in you to kill someone. You had no chance.

You spent a lot of time studying the plants, it interested you even if it would only help you so much. There were a lot of plants that were good for healing and some were even dangerous.

Reading a book on herbology, you sat far away from the other tributes who were sparring and throwing weapons at targets. It was hard to focus knowing that you’d be their target in a few days.

“Why are you wasting your time with that?” A familiar voice said behind you.

“It’s none of your business.” You spat back at Bakugou.

“Plants aren’t going to keep you from getting a knife in your back.”

“Why are you even here? How stupid are you to volunteer?”

“I’m going to win. I win at everything I do.” He said.

You stared at him in disbelief. You knew that Bakugou strives to beat everyone in his way but he never expressed that in regards to the Hunger Games. He always acted the way you did and how most did. They were disgusting and you wanted to avoid them as much as possible.

You turned your attention away from him, you couldn’t deal with him. You didn’t have long before the games would begin. You had to focus on what you were doing for the judges, not that it mattered. You knew you couldn’t compare to the others. You didn’t have much of a chance.

For the judges you displayed your knowledge of plants, it wouldn’t get you a great score but it was better than doing nothing. They seemed barely interested so you didn’t expect much.

Sitting on the couch of the apartment you were staying at with Bakugou and Aizawa you weren’t shocked to see yourself get a four. You heard a scoff from Bakugou and you sent him a dirty look. You were shocked to see Bakugou get a twelve. You knew that he was strong and his willpower alone was enough to make him the best at everything he did but it still left you wondering just what he did to get that score.

Time passed quickly and before you knew it the interviews were up. It was the last big event before the games would begin. That made your stomach churn. It wouldn’t be long until you’d be in an arena and everyone there would want you dead. There hadn’t been a day since you arrived in the capital that you weren’t stuck in your head dreading what would come. It was almost impossible to sleep and even harder to stomach anything.

Your stylist had picked a deep forest green dress for you. It was elaborate and stunning. Staring at it on the mannequin, the dress reminded you of home. The forests that were damp and earthy that always felt right to be in. The hearth in your family’s home that kept you warm on the cold nights. The stews that your mother made that you loved so much. The rain against your window at night while you read your favorite book. The boy next door that no matter how much you fought with him there was a sense of comfort being at his side.

Everything that you would never see again. Tears streamed down your face and you pretended they weren’t there as you were helped into the dress.

Your interview was first. Your entrance was standard, the questions not very exciting. It was easy to feel that the crowd wasn’t very interested in you. How could you capture their interest? You knew you were just another face, just a background character in someone else's story.

Bakugou was after you, the noise of the host and him talking was in the background as you walked with Aizawa out of the backstage area.

“You volunteered and you from District Seven, that’s very rare. What could possibly make you do something like that.” The host questioned. You scoffed, you already knew his answer. ‘Because I’ll win.’ You could hear it perfectly in his voice.

“Because the girl I love was chosen.” He said. You must have misheard that. You turned to look at the screen and saw him sitting on the couch on stage looking far more dressed up than you had ever seen him in your life.

“The girl you love, and by that do you mean your district partner?” The host asked excitedly looking at the crowd as if they hadn’t heard.

“Yes, we grew up with each other. I lived next door to her, we spent everyday walking to and from school. No matter how much we teased each other or pretended we didn’t like each other I always cared about her. When I heard her name called I knew that I couldn’t watch her do this alone. I volunteered so I can protector her, and make sure she gets to make it home.” He said.

“Wow, what an amazing story. Doesn’t it tug on your heartstrings? We all wish you luck in the games.” The host said as Bakugou was ushered away.

Numbness was all you felt. His words rang in your head. Aizawa looked at you with a concerned expression.

How could he lie like that? Just so he would have the viewers on his side? Just so he would have more sponsors in the game feeling sympathy for his sob story.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” You started as Bakugou walked down the hall towards you. He gave you a blank stare. “I know you couldn’t care less about me but did you really have to involve me in your story to manipulate the viewers?”

Bakugou stared at you before moving past without a word. You had expected him to yell at you or argue that it only made sense to use every advantage you could get but his silence was unsettling.

It was a blur. It was the day of the games. You stood in a cold room staring at the elevator that would lift you into the arena. This was it. It probably wouldn’t be long until you were dead. Taking a deep breath you took in the clothing you were provided. The heavy coat was large and made you feel too warm in this small room. From what you could gather it was going to be cold in the arena. At least you were used to snow. The best thing you had going for you was your survival skills if you could get away from the blood bath without dying.

Aizawa was there to give you your last bits of advice. The biggest being to avoid the cornucopia, it was always guaranteed to be a blood bath where only the strongest came out on top. Aizawa advised you to take what minor supplies you could get and hide away from others until necessary.

There was a far off look in his eyes. It was easy to tell that he was trying to distance himself emotionally. No doubt it was hard to get to know two kids every year only to watch them die horrifically.

“Thank you for everything.” You said softly.

“Goodbye.” He said giving you a sad smile.

A timer had begun counting down as you entered the elevator. Pressing your eyes closed you took a deep breath. A part of you considered if going for the cornucopia would be the best way to end things quickly. You shook your head. You owed it to your family, to yourself to at least try even if it was only delaying the inevitable.

The elevator started to move and an opening appeared at the ceiling. Cold air flooded the space and you were glad you were dressed the way you were. As you entered the arena you took in your surroundings. At least two feet of snow blanketed everything in sight. Most of the space around was open but in the distance, there was a forest. Mountains and cliff sides lingered in the distance.

The cornucopia sat not far away, surrounded by different items. It was tempting but it was a setup. You glanced towards the forest, it would be the best option. The cover of the trees would help you hide away from the others.

Looking around the others surrounding you, you recognized them all. You knew which ones you should be careful of. Your eyes met Bakugou’s and your stomach dropped. Once you ran away would you ever see him again? Your last words to him hadn’t been kind. Would he win? Or would he be killed by another tribute? What would he do if it was only the both of you remaining? Would he kill you? You knew you could never hurt him.

The clock ticked and with each sound, your heart beat faster and faster.

Run. Just run. Don’t look back.

The clock hit zero and chaos broke out. You fled for the trees not sparing a look back. The snow was deep and hard to move through, thankfully you were used to the snow. You weren’t expecting to find a backpack in the snow. You grabbed it without stopping as you ran to the trees.

Once you were in the tree line you felt some relief but you knew others would have the same idea so you continued not slowing your pace. You ran and ran until you couldn’t go anymore. You spotted a tree with strong looking branches and figured it was a decent place to hide for now.

Climbing the tree you were able to get comfortable as possible so you could look through the backpack. In it were some supplies, rations, water, rope, and a few other things.

The biggest concern for survival would be cold. It was cold now and it would only get worse. Your clothing would keep you warm but it might not be enough. You waited, carefully listening to the forest and its sounds. Eventually, nightfall came and the canons went off announcing the number of deaths that had occurred for the day. Fifteen in total. More than half gone already. She wondered if they thought they could survive the cornucopia or if they had gone to it in hopes of ending things quickly. When you didn’t see Bakugou’s face among them you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

As much as you knew you needed to you couldn’t sleep. You knew the danger you were in. As the temperature dropped you wished you could make a fire but you knew it was too risky to do so.

Morning came and you wanted to hunt today, you had the rations from the backpack but you wanted to keep them as a backup if you couldn’t get food. The skill wasn’t unfamiliar, you had done it before just not with these tools. There was a hatchet in the backpack, it wasn’t normally used to hunt but you could make it work.

You had been able to kill a rabbit, making a small fire to cook it before putting it out and moving on. As night fell you made your way into another tree for the night. You accidentally fell asleep a few times throughout the night before startling awake.

Days passed and you couldn’t remember the last time you felt any warmth. Tributes died day by day, none of them were Bakugou. That was a relief and it made you nervous at the same time. You didn’t want to face him.

The landscape before you was beautiful, you had scaled one of the smaller parts of the mountain. It was risky but if you got higher up you hoped it would deter other tributes from finding you. Green pine trees covered the ground as far as you could see. It reminded you of home. You pushed that thought out of your mind before it brought you any more sorrow.

As you moved through some of the dense trees on the mountain you weren’t expecting to come upon the edge of a cliff. You stumbled, pulling back so that you wouldn’t fall but it was too late. Your gravity was off and there was no way to stop yourself now. You reached out hopelessly to catch anything to stop yourself from falling. What you weren’t expecting was for someone’s hand to grasp yours. You were pulled back to safety as you came face to face with Bakugou.

“Idiot, watch where you’re going!” He said staring at you with an angry expression.

“Bakugou?” You said in confusion, why was he here? Had he been following you. “You know it’s not a great tactic to save your enemies from dying. Kind of losing out on a free loss.”

“I don’t want to win the loser’s way.” He grunted before letting go of you, you nearly fell to the ground.

“Really, why are you here?” You questioned.

“Because it’s a good place to be, if you’re the first one in these mountains you’ll have the high ground.” He answered. “We might as well as team up since we’re both here. The others have made alliances.”

“I’m not really helpful for an alliance, you should know that.” You said, sitting down on the ground to get your breath back. Your heart was still pounding from the adrenaline.

“Better than nothing.” He said before sitting down next to you.

The silence was odd. In a way it was so similar to all the times you walked to school in silence, forgoing the usual trade of insults. But it was different all at the same time. You weren’t going about your normal day, you were in the middle of an even that would leave one if not both of you dead.

“I still don’t get why you volunteered. Even if you win it’s not worth it.” You said to him. Even if you received money and everything else they gave was it worth the risk? Was it worth the trauma you’d be left with?

“You don’t have to understand.” He said. That left you with more questions than answers but you didn’t push further.

Taking the day you made your way into the mountains more, as night fell you stopped to make camp. You were unsure about making a fire but Bakugou didn’t seem too concerned.

“Here.” He said throwing a sleeping bag at you. You had noticed the good-sized backpack he had on when you met earlier. You wondered if he had managed to get anything from the cornucopia but you didn’t ask. Were any of the people that were killed on the first day killed by him? It was hard to imagine him taking someone's life.

“Thank you.” You said. You were thankful for the sleeping bag, it would be a lot better than the trees you had stayed in all night.

“I’ll take first watch.” He said. You wanted to argue but you were so tired from the lack of sleep that you gave in.

It was odd the sense of safety you had with Bakugou. A part of you said that he could slit your throat while you slept but you knew deep down he wouldn’t. If he was going to kill you he would be straight forward about it. You fell asleep without hesitation.

You returned to consciousness quickly, the sensation of someone’s hand pressed against your mouth. Your eyes opened up and you realized that it wasn’t Bakugou but another tribute. You tried to scream but it was muffled. Moving for your hatchet you realized that they had you fully pinned down. Tears burned in your eyes as you stared up at them.

“Get off of her!” You heard Bakugou yell. You wondered where he had been.

“Why would I do that?” The guy said, you felt the cold steel of a blade press against your neck and you let out a whimper.

“Whatever you do, don’t open your eyes,” Bakugou said and you knew he was talking to you. Without thinking you listened.

With a yelp of pain, the guy tumbled off of you, and a weight was lifted from your chest both literally and figuratively. There was a noise of a commotion, rustling, and grunts of pain before everything went silent. A moment passed and the sound of a canon rang out in the arena.

“Just wait here, don’t look.” He said. You knew what had happened but it was hard to believe. There was more sound, footsteps, the sound of something being dragged before more footsteps. “Okay.”

Opening your eyes you could see Bakugou in the moonlight, standing over you. What stood out was the blood that covered his hands and his jacket, barely reflecting in the glow.

“T-Thank you.” You stuttered out, still scared. You knew that you would die here but coming face to face with death was worse than you imagined. “I-I” You started but tears ran down your face.

The last thing you expected was for him to kneel and take you in his arms. Your first reaction was to stiffen, was he going to kill you? When you felt him gently place you head against his chest you realized he was hugging you. As much as you wanted to push him away or argue you felt so vulnerable after what happened. You slowly wrapped your arms around him before letting loose more tears.

“You’re okay. It’s going to be okay.” He said. You had only seen this side of him once before.

When you were young you had been in the forest behind your houses, playing like you did often. It had been an accident, you weren’t looking. You jumped off a rock into a pile of leaves, playing in them. What you didn’t expect was there to be a bear trap.

The pain was so bad you had nearly blacked out. You remembered how panicked he was, rushing to your side. He disarmed the trap faster than you expected and before you knew it he was carrying you home.

The memories of it were vague from the pain and time but what stuck in your head was the soft voice he used reassuring you everything was going to be alright and the tears that welled up in his eyes.

By the time you woke up in bed bandaged up Bakugou was back to his normal self, no hint of the teary-eyed boy you had seen. A part of you always wondered if that had been your imagination trying to soothe you through the traumatic moment.

The softness Bakugou showed you know made it clear that your memory had not been incorrect. Hands gripping into his jacket he held you until your tears stopped and the sun slowly rose in the sky.

He explained that he had heard a noise and went off to look for the source and when he returned the other tribute had been on you. He didn’t apologize but you could hear the guilt in his voice. These events had just furthered your confusion about everything.

Once there was enough light you ate some rations before packing up and heading further up the mountain. Your travel was silent for the most part but every once and a while you would talk.

The number of tributes was getting lower every day. Not counting you and Bakugou there were three others left. Honestly, you hadn’t expected to make it this long. You wouldn’t have made it this long if it wasn’t for Bakugou saving you last night.

“What are you going to do if it gets down to just the two of us?” You asked, your breath appearing in the cold air.

“Why are you asking such a stupid question?” He grunted back at you.

“I think it’s a fair question.” You said. Did his avoidance of it mean that it was obvious he would kill you?

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I think the quickly approaching reality is something I should worry about.” You returned. “Unless you think I’ll die before then.”

“You might with how clumsy you are, idiot.” He said, not even sparing you a glance as his eyes scanned the snowy trail.

“Even on death’s door, you’re going to give me that attitude?” You said annoyed. “Bakugou Katsuki, you are the most insufferable person I’ve ever met.”

The sound of a canon went off stopping your conversation. Just a second later another one went off. You took a shaky breath. There was only one other tribute left.

Looking over at Bakugou you caught his gaze, you didn’t miss the nervous look in his eyes no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

“One left.” You whispered to yourself.

That night you set up a small camp in the mouth of a cave. You couldn’t bring yourself to eat anything, the nerves were too much. It was almost over, how had you made it into the top three? Would the last tribute kill you both? Or would Bakugou kill the last tribute? Then what?

It came crashing down on you even harder than it had before. Someone had to die. You and Bakugou wouldn’t make it out together, there was only ever one winner. Tears streamed down your face before you recognized them.

Bakugou Katsuki had been a constant in your life, a constant you always thought that you hated but sitting here confronting the idea of him dying tore you apart. You cared about him more than you would ever like to admit. Even if you argued more than anything else Bakugou always looked after you. If someone was mean to you at school he would scare them off, if you got hurt he would patch you up even if he did make fun of you the whole time, he was always there for you no matter what.

Why had life decided to be so unfair to you?

A day passed and you hiked further into the mountains, there had been no sign of the other tribute. That made you nervous, you knew that the game maker wanted a show and if he didn’t get one the would do what they thought would make things interesting and it wouldn’t be good for you.

Passing through a dense forest you felt on edge. You knew something bad would happen but you didn’t know what exactly it would be. You felt like something was watching like you were being hunted. Glancing at Bakugou you knew he was on edge too.

A crack of thunder rang out. You knew with how suddenly it hit it wasn’t natural. Suddenly rain poured down, with how cold it was you knew it would be bad if you got soaked.

“We need to find cover,” Bakugou said looking to you.

The two of you picked up your pace into a run, searching for anything that would work. You spotted a cave opening, it was dangerous to be in a confined space but you would only be in more danger out here. The storm hit harder and harder with every passing moment. Lightning striking nearby and thunder rumbled the ground around you.

You tripped, landing on your knees. Bakugou pulled you up by the back of your jacket and back onto your feet. This time he took your hand into yours pulling you along.

Finally, you reached the cave, the shelter from the storm providing some relief. You looked at Bakugou and without saying anything you both knew this was a trap. Opening your backpack you pulled out the flashlight that was in there. Turning it on you were able to see your surroundings better.

“Let’s go in further,” Bakugou said looking around. “Be careful, we don’t know if they’re in here or if they’ll be behind us.”

The cave wasn’t spacious but the tunnel you followed went deeper in. It was eerily silent, the only sound was from the storm outside. You don’t know how long it took but eventually, it opened up to a large cavern. There was an opening in the ceiling of the cave letting in icy cold air and the rain that poured down but overall it was enough to cover from the storm.

“It’s a dead end.” You said looking around.

“So we wait.” He said.

Bakugou paced the cavern, walking around different parts of it surveying the space.

It happens quickly, you hear a noise and suddenly Bakugou is on the ground under the last tribute. A knife is at his throat as he struggles to hold it back. Fear grips you at the sudden occurrence.

For a moment you’re frozen, your body won’t move even if your head is screaming at you to help. You finally break free and rush forward, you tackle the tribute off of Bakugou and onto the ground of the cavern.

It’s messy, you struggle and fight but the tribute is far stronger than you and easily throws you off before regaining his balance and attacking.

Bakugou watches in horror as the tribute overtakes you. He moves forward, knife in hand this time. He blocks out the reality of what he has to do, driving the blade down into his back repeatedly. He pulls him off of you, throwing him to the side.

As the canon goes off he blocks out the fact that it’s just the two of you left. He knows what he has to do but he can’t bring himself to think about it yet. He wants to enjoy the last moments of peace.

“Katsuki.” You say but your voice is ragged. He’s taken aback at the use of his first name. “Don’t look.”

His stomach drops as he realizes the blood soaking through your coat isn’t the tribute's. He panics, dropping to his knees beside you tearing open your coat trying to find the wound.

“No, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” He said pressing against the wound trying to stop the bleeding.

“You’re going to win just like you wanted.” You replied.

“You idiot!” He yells. “I didn’t volunteer to win, I did it to protect you!”

He watches your face fall at the realization.

“You-”

“I couldn’t stand the thought of you going through this alone, if you died I would never forgive myself for not being there. I volunteered to make sure that you would make it out alive!”

“Why?” Your voice was breathless, eyes tearing up.

“Because I love you, idiot!” He yelled. “How stupid are you?”

“Katsuki, I-” You started, your breathes heavily as you tried to speak. “I-” You tried to speak but your eyelids fell closed, consciousness fading.

“No! I’m not gonna lose you. You can’t die, I did this to keep you safe!” He screamed. “I did this to protect you! Why did you try to help me! I was supposed to die for you!”

Tears ran down his face as he screamed out. A canon went off and it felt like he had been stabbed. He collapsed into you, sobbing into your stomach.

The games came to a close. They retrieved Bakugou but he fought tooth and nail to keep the peacekeepers away that tried to take him away from your body. The only option they were left with was to sedate him.

Once Bakugou woke up they tried to explain to him that he would have to do an interview at the capitol as well as make appearances in all of the districts. Their words fell on deaf ears as he refused to listen to anyone, trying to attack anyone who got close enough. They finally decided to send Aizawa in.

“Bakugou, you need to be reasonable.” He said. “If you don’t listen they will kill you and tell everyone that it was from your injuries in the games.”

“I have nothing to live for, the only reason I did any of this was to make sure she won and I failed and now I have to live with that.” He spits back.

“I know,” Aizawa said solemnly. “I’m sorry, I know you did everything to protect her.”

“If they want to kill me then let them.”

“Please, at least let me see if they will let you go home without any media. We can say that you got sick from something in the arena and had to be sent home.”

Bakugou didn’t reply but Aizawa took that as a yes.

Stepping into the empty house Bakugou felt numb. Aizawa had managed to get him home without any more disturbance. The capital was in an upset without the media the thrived off of after the Games. Many people were looking forward to the tearful remembrance of you. The capitol had been enthralled by the love story between you and Bakugou.

What was the point anymore? Looking out the window to the yard, it was rainy and foggy. He couldn’t bring himself to care about anything. He hadn’t even seen his parents since he got back to District Seven.

It haunted him, watching you die. Your stuttered last words cut off by your last breath. Did you love him back? It was something he would never have an answer to and he would have to live with that for the rest of his life.

alternate ending

taglist: @sugarmaplewings-fics @lilkiwisfinest @ewwis @kandy1410 @moonlightaangel @winnies-headcannons @bakugousidehoe @paintedr0ses1 @toobsessedsstuff @spellboundxizi @ourladyofseijoh @x0doodlebug0x @katsuhoee

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #katsuki x reader #bakugo katsuki x reader #bakugo x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha #mha #my writing #bakugou katsuki #angst #bakugousidehoe

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everybodyscupoftea · 3 years

Note

Brooke running into JJ and reader now that they have been dating a while!??? Have no idea how this would go down but would love to see ur take on it

this is solely for the sweet anon who asked how i was doing, love you :)

brooke wasn’t in your major, meaning once jj broke up with her, you barely saw her. your sorority’s president, god bless her, swore you’d never work closely with phi mu strictly because of her, and you were equal parts amused and thankful.

one afternoon, jj was tired of studying and started to get antsy, so the two of you packed up your stuff in the library and decided to take a walk. cody was working, a rare afternoon shift, so you dropped your booksacks behind the info desk on the way out.

it was still chilly out, just starting to warm into spring, and you shivered a little, shoving your hands into your hoodie pocket. jj, never able to walk straight, bumped into you a few times before you exasperatedly took one of your hands out to hold his to help him.

he grinned sheepishly, “sorry.”

“don’t worry about it, bud,” you reassured him.

the library was on the edge of campus which was pretty abandoned, most people already gone for the evening except the few students walking to their night classes.

“feeling better?” you asked jj after about ten minutes.

nodding, he answered, “yeah, sorry to disrupt you, hope i didn’t knock you too much out of the zone.”

“not a disruption at all, i needed some fresh air too.”

jj stopped, his hand in yours pulling you to a stop too, and bent down to press a soft kiss to your forehead, “you’re incredible.”

blinking in surprise at the sudden compliment, your cheeks heated up, “yeah, well, don’t forget it.”

“i could never,” he said, dramatically placing a hand over his heart.

you laughed, leaning into his side, “wanna pick up some dinner from subway? we could bring some back to cody.”

“sounds good to me,” he shrugged, “i’ve got my wallet.”

turning around, the two of you started walking in the other direction back toward the subway you’d passed earlier in the walk. jj swung your hands between you playfully, and you giggled when he lifted them above your head.

he squeezed your hand a few times, fingers tapping on the back of your hands in a rhythm only in his head. you were deeply grateful every time jj held your hand, remembering the time you’d drunkenly passionately explained how in your mind it was peak romance.

by the time the two of you arrived at subway, it was dinnertime, and the small store was packed with on-campus students avoiding the caf. jj squeezed in behind you, leaning a lot of his weight into you to avoid being squished into the wall.

his arm wrapped around your waist, and you rested one of your hands on his forearm. jj’s arm tightened and pulled you back as someone pushed by, drink sloshing out of his cup that he’d for some reason chosen to not put a lid on.

jj leaned down to whisper in your ear, “that man woke up from his afternoon nap and chose violence.”

you laughed, “thank god i’m wearing black socks today, huh?”

“he got you?” jj asked, surprised.

“unfortunately, he did.”

jj made a face, “we’ll go home after this so you can change, yeah?”

“yeah, i’m tired of the library anyway,” you conceded, “could definitely use a study break.”

“we can watch a movie,” jj brightened, “they put some new ones on netflix.”

humming thoughtfully, you tightened your grip on his forearm, resting your head on his chest tiredly, “sounds great to me.”

the line shifted forward, and the two of you moved away from the wall, but jj stayed behind you, not that you were complaining much. what neither of you had noticed was brooke two spots in front of you, and when you moved forward away from the wall, she could see you.

you saw her first when she scoffed, catching your attention. narrowing your eyes at her, you leaned further into jj’s grip. whether it was a weird way to stake a claim or genuine recoil from how much you disliked her, you weren’t sure.

“i knew it,” she muttered, but you could tell she wasn’t trying to hide it.

that prompted jj to look over and he grimaced before looking down at you with a concerned look in his eyes. you remembered the last...confrontation...the three of you had when they originally broke up.

“honestly, it’s been months,” he whispered, “why’s she so bothered?”

you shrugged, “green isn’t her color.”

he laughed loudly, catching her attention again, and you tilted your head away so she couldn’t see your smile. the line started to move while she was focused on the two of you and the boy behind her coughed, “hey, pay attention.”

she glared at him, cheeks reddening, and turned away to order. brooke didn’t look at the two of you again as she got her food and sat down, facing away. by the time the two of you left, sandwiches in hand, she’d barely made a dent in her food, clearly trying to stall and wait you out.

jj grabbed your hand again as the two of you started walking back toward the library. after about five minutes he let out a long breath, “well, it wasn’t as awkward as i expected the first confrontation would be.”

“probably helped that there were people between us and in public.”

he shrugged, “fair. but we got the first one out of the way.”

“true. easier from here on out.”

squeezing your hand one last time as the two of you walked through the library door, jj agreed, “easier from here on out.”

#jj maybank request #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank #pike!jj #frat!jj

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justanalto · 3 years

Note

*sing song voice* serEEEEEEEEEEnaaaaaaaaa

Hi!

Boots.

this is fairly equivalent to how i woke up this morning :P jk

"Detmer to Burnham."

"Go ahead, Keyla."

"So, uh, this is kind of embarrassing, but..." Keyla glances around at the array of sparking wires and emergency lights. "You remember maybe five hours ago, when you said I could take out the launch pod?"

It wasn't that she'd meant to do it -- it'd started with one measly error that'd completely snowballed into two, then three, then all of a sudden, she was wedged into who knew what with a growing line of shuttles behind her. (God, she really hoped no one was around to hear this.)

"I do," Michael says suspiciously. "Keyla, what happened?"

"Okay, but before I tell you, you should know I didn't do this on purpose," Keyla protests. "Even if it seems like I did, I promise I didn't, sir."

"Keyla, what did you do?"

Keyla's answer is cut off by the sound of several sonic horns. She winces. "So you know the Yelchin Canal?"

There's silence. "The very narrow, very crucial passage to most Starfleet travel that carries supplies and cadets to bases around the galaxy? That Yelchin Canal?"

Keyla winces again. If Michael didn't court martial her over this, she'd court martial herself in shame. "Yes, sir."

"I'm going to ask you one more time: what. Did. You. Do."

More horns. "I... might have wedged the launch pod into the canal."

There's several moments of incoherent swearing before Michael's able to speak. "I can't ascertain whether this was an accident or not, so you'll get a pickup and we'll go from there, okay?"

"Of course," Keyla rambles. "And thank you, Captain, for keeping the matter quiet." Heaven knows everyone else behind her would already publicize the incident.

Starfleet's greatest pilot, survivor of the Binaries, a monstrous AI, and the future: cemented not into history for any of these things, but rather for blocking an intergalactic trading path and ruining perhaps 90% of its shipments in a way only a rookie pilot could.

She won't be able to show her face at HQ for years. Maybe she could get a haircut. A new augment, maybe?

"Did I say I was the one who was going to pick you up? No, no, this is about to be much worse for you." Keyla can hear the evil grin in Michael's next words. "Rhys, Owosekun, I need you on a shuttle to the Yelchin Canal for a pickup."

No, no, not Rhys...and Joann? The captain had really chosen violence today. Keyla groans. Forget living this down. She was going to need to time travel another 930 years to escape this.

"No, this one's more of a...tow-out," Michael can be heard saying, before "Owosekun, your girlfriend wedged herself in the canal. Make sure you give her enough grief, yeah?"

Then, immediately: "Owosekun to Detmer,"

Why, universe? "Go ahead," Keyla groans.

"I thought you were supposed to be a good pilot."

#ask things #aleksandrachaev #kat's quest for boots #re cleans out her inbox

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thewatermelloncat · 3 years

Note

It was the wrong number I meant 4 TuT

Rosénali

4. “You lied” “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell the whole truth.”

Got carried away with this one in multiple ways. I’ll probably turn it into its own fic on AO3 when I figure out a title, and it also got a lot darker than I was meaning for it to. If that’s a problem I can write you another one if you want.

But I really enjoyed doing this one, so thanks for the prompt

WARNINGS: MILD DESCRIPTION OF VIOLENCE, AND INJURY

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Had a rough night. Skipping school today.

When Denali had got Rosé’s text the day before she hadn’t hesitated before calling back. It wasn’t a surprise that Rosé had dodged most of her questions, saying that she would explain the next time they see each other face to face. In the meantime, promising her that she was fine but just needed to take a day for herself.

As soon as they’d hung up, Denali began the process of impatiently waiting for the time when Rosé would give her answers. After school that day she had been tempted to go over to Rosé’s house to check in on her, but she rationalised against it. If Rosé was taking a day to be alone, she didn’t need Denali getting in the way of that.

So, she’d gone home and done her homework. Losing count of the times she pulled up and got lost in the words of Rosé’s text message as if it would tell her more than it already had.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Denali was usually an early riser but the next morning she woke up before the sun had breached the horizon line. Unable to get back to sleep she reached over and grabbed her phone from her bedside table.

Are you up?

She sent the text to Rosé, not expecting the immediate reply that she got.

Yeah

Do you want to get to school early? Assuming you’re coming…

She sends back before impatiently waiting for Rosé’s typing bubble to turn into text.

Sure, meet behind the science block.

Worry sinks into Denali’s stomach as she types back a quick confirmation, knowing that as the spot Rosé takes her to when she wants to tell her something that she doesn’t want anyone else to hear. Then her worry turns into a sense of urgency and she shoves off her covers and sets about readying herself for school.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Denali had been surprised that Rosé had beaten her to the spot. Finding her sitting on the concrete, leaning against the wall of the building.

All up she had looked normal until she’d told Denali about what had happened two nights before and then more things stood out to her: the cuts that grazed her knuckles; broken fingernails; and she just had to trust that she had a few bruises on her arms which her leather jacket is hiding. Also, the tired lines under her eyes that kept avoiding Denali’s gaze while she finally explained what had happened.

It had been around 11:00 at night and Rosé had been home alone when she heard a knock at the door. She hadn’t thought much of it since her parents had been out and she just assumed they had forgotten their key. When she’d opened the door she’d seen her uncle on the other side, and recognising the familiar face she’d undone the safety latch to let him in.

Long story short, her father owed his brother some money that Rosé had no idea about. She’d tried to ease the situation but he was out of patience and had grabbed her and tossed her to the floor.

She’d counted herself lucky that her parents had got back at that time and her dad had been able to pay his brother off. But Denali struggled to see the positive side.

“Are you sure you’re okay to be here?” Denali asks, still holding onto Rosé’s hand that she had gently taken in her own.

Rosé hums assuredly as she nods. “Kind of just want to get out of the house, you know?”

“Guess that makes sense” Denali finds reason before she asks, “how did you manage staying there all yesterday?”

“Well, I slept for most of it” Rosé admits.

“I don’t think you slept enough” Denali looks back to the lines beneath her eyes.

“In my mind, you can never sleep enough” Rosé smirks at her as the bell rings. “We should get going.”

Denali hums in agreement as she stands, Rosé stiffly pushing herself up to follow after her with a limp.

About three steps in Denali slows her pace to a stop. “How else did you get hurt?”

“Just pulled a muscle in my leg or something. It’s nothing” Rosé dismisses easily and being the talented actor that she is, Denali stupidly believes her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Denali had strategically chosen her position on the field, not for any game plan but specifically because it was close to where Rosé was sitting on the side line.

After she’d come out of the changing shed, she’d seen Rosé talking to their P.E teacher before they had directed her over to the area where she now sits. Then she knew she needed to talk to her because a few things were no longer lining up for her. Only she couldn’t figure out what they are.

“I thought you liked P.E” Denali ribs at her as she comes to stand in her position.

“I can’t say sport is my true passion, but it does get me out from behind a desk” Rosé answers casually.

Okay. She didn’t get far in gathering information from that line of conversation.

“Didn’t know that a pulled muscle was enough to get you out” Denali tries again. “When Kandy complained to Mr Sims about one the other week, he just told her to stretch it out.”

At this Rosé shifts uncomfortably and Denali knows she’s getting somewhere. So, she prods again.

“Or was it the grazed knuckles that pushed it over the edge?”

For a few seconds Denali watches as Rosé plays out different ways the situation could go in her head before she sighs, giving in.

“Metaphorically speaking” - Rosé says slowly, avoiding Denali’s gaze before she cuts her off.

“Rosé, I really doubt that there is going to be a metaphor in this.”

“Okay, fine” she huffs out a breath, closing her eyes helplessly. “What would you say if I told you I had stitches in my leg?”

“Well, I guess I would ask how many” Denali says slowly and unsurely as her mind processes the words said.

“There’s three.”

“Wait – but, what?” like a record scratch in Denali’s brain the pieces all fit together. “You lied.”

“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell the whole truth” Rosé defends hesitantly.

“So, there is no pulled muscle?”

“Okay, so maybe I used that as a cover” Rosé admits, running a hand down her face.

“Rosie, I honestly don’t know if I believe you” Denali confesses, the information all coming too fast for her to keep up.

“I wish I was lying” Rosé says as she reaches down to the zip at the hem of her pants. Knowing that Denali isn’t going to believe her without evidence.

Curiously, Denali steps forward, guessing that there is an advantage to Rosé having edgy clothing as she pulls up the zip in the side seam of her pantleg to reveal a bandage wrapped around her calf.

“That enough for you to believe me? Cut it on the corner of the shelf when he threw me down. In the grand scheme of things, it’s shallow.”

“Yeah” Denali breathes out as she begins to shake her head, unable to tell if she’s annoyed or not. “But why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Save you worrying, I guess” Rosé reasons as she pulls the zip down again.

“How is this supposed to keep me from worrying?” Denali raises her hands before she lets them fall back to her sides. “Now I’m going to constantly worry that you’re hiding things from me.”

“Well, in fairness, you weren’t supposed to find out” Rosé sighs.

Denali pulls in a breath to argue back but the sound of her name has the words caught in her throat.

“Foxx, get in the game!” Mr Sims calls out across the field.

After one last look between Rosé and the game around her, she starts to run backwards as she fixes Rosé with a warning look and points a finger toward her. “This is not over.”

#rpdr fanfiction #rosénali #rosenali

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jawritter · 4 years

Text

You and Me...

Chapter 22

***SERIES WARNINGS**** Rape, non con, male!rape, injury, violence, discription of injury caused by rape, nightmares, self harm, panick attackes, implied female non con, language, ass hole Jensen, hurt!jensen, dark fic, smut. If there is anything else I will add it as I go.

***Chatper Warnings*** TRIGGER WARNING!!! VIVID DESCRIPTION OR NIGHTMARE, Rape, discritiption of the begginging of rape? I guess that would be a good way to say it. Unconsented touching, oral, and implied anal fingering, (again all dream induced, but may be triggering for some!) Description of being sick, (vomiting), language, angst, some fluff, I think that’s everything. I don’t want to give too much away!

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Word Count: 1450

A/N: As always all mistakes are mine!, Please do not copy my work!! Feedback is gold! I hope you enjoy this one! (Nightmare is in bold print.)

Summery: It’s funny how one choice you made can change your whole life. One mistake can alter you course, and set you on a path that forever will haunt you. Two people find themselves getthing through one of the hardest trials of Jensen’s life, on just one small promise. You and Me. We’ll get through it together…

Want more? Check out my masterlist!!

***MASTERLIST***

***YOU AND ME MASTERLIST***

Jensen's POV:

"You sure are pretty." The slimmy voice graveled in Jensen's ear, making his skin crawl.

"We're going to have a lot of fun with you." He said, and three other voices chuckle around him.

Jensen tries to move his legs, and arms around him, but he couldn't. As his foggy vision cleared there were three things that came to the forefront of his focus.

His head was throbbing as if it had its own pulse.

He was chained to a bed again.

And he was completely naked.

He felt a rough calloused hand side up his inner thigh slowly as the large man circled the bed. Moving closer and closer to his manhood. He started to scream as loud as he could, praying someone would hear him.

Thrashing his body as hard as he could against his restraints. Doing his best to close his legs as the man's hand moved closer and closer to its goal.

He gagged, and started to vomit as a warm mouth of another man came around his cock, and the man who had his hand on his thigh inserted two fingers harshly into his rectum.

Nausea is what pulled Jensen from the nightmare. In a way he was thankful, but in a way he wished his stomach would stop trying to expel everything that had touched it that day.

He sat up on the side of the quickly and quietly as he could as to not wake up y/n. Staggering towards the bathroom, and closing the door, barely making it to the toilet before he wasn't able to hold back any longer.

Hitting his knees on the cold tile floor. Violently sick.

He heaved against his stomach. Trying everything he knows to do to stop the violent attack on him caused by the dream. That's when he heard the door open behind him and felt y/n's hands on his back. Rubbing it soothingly. He leaned back carefully. Still not trusting his own stomach. Laying his head on your lap as you sit on the tub next to him.

"You okay there handsome?" You asked, reaching over in the small bathroom and grabbing a washcloth. Running it under some cold water, and rubbing it against his forehead and neck.

"Yeah, I'll live." He says, still shaking a little, and fighting against the memories that were just below the surface.

"Another nightmare?" You finally asked after he stopped shaking.

"Yeah." Was all Jensen could answer. His stomach was still rolling, and he didn’t trust himself to get up from the floor just yet.

"Wanna talk about it?" You ask, checking him over again.

"No, it's not worth talking about. I said, I wanted to get away from all that shit. I hadn't had a nightmare in days. Much less woke up sick like this in months. Why now? We were supposed to be having a good time." He said, standing slowly to his feet. Holding onto the wall for support as he made his way towards the bed again.

"Baby, you can't run from things like this, and we are having a good time.” You tell him wrapping your arms around him as you both settle down into the bed. His head on your shoulders os that you could card your fingers through his hair. Helping the tenseness of his shoulders to ebb away slowly.

“You're doing so good Jensen, you're so strong, you're doing better than any of us expect you to do, and one bad night is nothing to be ashamed of or upset about. Let’s get you back to sleep, and in the morning you will feel a lot better.”

Your POV:

The light shone brightly through the window the next morning. You sat up quickly, checking Jensen to make sure he was still sleeping peacefully, which he was.

He had scared you last night. He'd done good for days. That must have been a pretty vivid nightmare, he hadn't woken up sick like that in a long time.

The rest of the night seemed to go peacefully once you'd gotten him back to sleep, and you hoped that was the last of the nightmares on this trip for him. He was so upset about it, and you wanted him to enjoy himself, not worry about nightmares.

Today the two of you would make the next leg of your journey together.

Sliding out of the bed, you pack your things as much as possible, and as silently as possible in hopes of getting on the road quickly.

He had been doing so well. You didn’t want him to relapse because of the stress the return of Supernatural was causing him. You refused to lose your Jensen to memories of what those sick fucks had done to him, and you were determined to do whatever you could to help him get through this and get his life back on track.

Several hours later you were back on the road after Jensen had takens some pretty awesome looking pictures of some of the old famous ruins, and old western style scenery. He was in his seventh heaven. That smile that you loved so much back on his face as the road stretched out in front of the two of you.

Almost as if the nightmare last night hadn’t occurred, and that much you were thankful for, and were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Just because he was acting better doesn’t mean that the problem has gone away, because you knew that it had not, but he couldn’t let it define him. That was what you were most concerned about. So far he seemed to be handling it all well, or at least better than he was.

Later that day another park lunch, and more getting to know each other. You loved to hear the stories about him and his siblings, his family. The things he liked, and was interested in. The things he dreamed about doing. He seemed just as interested in yours.

After about a 10 hour drive you two pulled up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jensen had rented another bed and breakfast. This one was called the Inn On The Hill. An absolutely gorgeous, almost Victorian style bed and breakfast. Honestly one of your favorite errors that you'd written and read more than one book about.

After getting settled into the room for the night Jensen came bouncing back into the room.

"Get dressed babe, I made us reservations at the Roof restaurant." He said, planting little kisses everywhere he could reach, crawling his large frame over yours that was stretched out on the bed.

"Okay! Okay!" You tell him, trying to squirm away from him playfully. Shoving at his large shoulders.

“You're insatiable!” You tell him as he rolls off of you. Going to grab his watch and wallet he’d taken off when he’d taken a shower a few moments ago.

“Yes, I am, and you love every fucking minute of it sweetheart.” He said, coming to cage you to the bed again. “Now quite being a little brat, and get that pretty ass dressed, I’m hungry.”

You stick your tongue out at him dramatically, and fold your arms over your chest. Ignoring your own growling stomach in order to annoy him further.

You loved it when Jensen was this playful, and it didn’t happen often so you were determined to take as much advantage of it as possible.

------------------------------

The restaurant was beautiful.

You'd never really been to anything this nice before.

The waitress brought Jensen and yourself into a back room, brought out a wine list that Jensen had quickly chosen from. Reaching across the table grabbing your hand in his.

"What do you think?" He asked, gesturing around him at the fancy restaurant.

"It's gorgeous! I love it!" You tell him, earning a proud smile from him.

"When you travel a lot you find these little gems like this." He said, rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand gently. “This one is one of my favorites.”

The waitress returned, and you both ordered your food. Which was brought back to you surprisingly quickly.

The two of you ate your dinner in a comfortable silence.

You did notice that Jensen kept nervously glancing around him, and you hoped that it wasn't his anxiety attacks coming back after the nightmare last night.

This is the most he’d been out in public away from the comfort of his hometown. Sure there were fans in his hometown that wanted pictures, and things when he was out in public, but a lot of them he’d been around so much at convintentions and things he even knew some of them by name.

You were also in a private room. So fans weren’t a problem.

"Baby, I got something I need to tell you." He said, looking across the table at you after making sure that the room was completely empty of waitresses.

"Okay..."

You look him over carefully. This wasn't the first time Jensen had started a sentence this way, so you had learned not to overreact, but after last night, you were a little nervous.

What he did next, you didn’t expect at all. Not in a million years.

Sliding his own chair back he got up, and walked over next to you.

Then proceeded to get down on one knee, grabbing your hands in his he looked you directly into the eye. Your heart started to pound harder and harder with each passing second as he tried to take a deep breath to collect his thoughts.

"You know, since the moment we met, I was falling in love with you, I was just too big of a damn coward to admit it. I haven't done right by you at all. I definitely don't deserve you. You sat by me in a hospital, cleaning me up every time I would get sick. Holding my hand. Sitting up with me through nightmares. I was weak. I wasn't half the man I should have been. I was a coward in a lot more ways than I could even begin to try to find excusable. The night I disrespected you that way.... You should have left me. I didn't deserve you to stay. Really I probably deserved to die that night like the piece of shit I was. Still you came back to me. I learned something that night.”

Jensen took an unsteady breath, his eyes tearing up as much as your own before he continued.

“Baby, that's that I can't live without you. I love you. I always have, I've just been to dumb to see it. You're my everything. You always have been. I want to give you everything you deserve, and more. I want to spend the rest of my life making up to you everything I've ever done wrong by."

Slipping his hand in the inside pocket of his suit coat he pulled out a little black box. Lifting the lid slowly, revealing the most beautiful engagement ring that you'd ever seen.

Your jaw hit the floor as tears flowed freely down your face.

"Y/n, I love you more than my own life. I want to spend the rest of our lives showing you that. Will you do me an honor that I don't really deserve, and be my wife?"

You sat there for a moment slack jawed In complete and utter shock.

Of all the things you expected to come out of his mouth that wasn't one of them.

He shifted nervously, taking a nervous breath, piercing green eyes searching your own.

He was about to stand up. He looked defeated down at his knee. One big tear sliding down his perfect face, and making a little round spot on his black slacks.

He thought for just a moment he messed up. Now he was about to lose you for real. He'd moved too fast, he'd scared you off.

Reaching down, putting your hand on the side of his face, making him look up at you. Those beautiful candy apple green eyes that you loved so much full of so much emotion. He took a deep breath, and was about to say something, but you cut him off with your answer.

"Yes."

In a moment his lips found yours. His arms pulling you close to him. He was kissing every free spot that he could find. When he was done he slipped the ring onto your finger.

It felt at home there.

"I love you so much, Jensen." You tell him as you both get back into the car to head back to the bed and breakfast.

"I love you to y/n." He says, wrapping his arms tightly around you. Both of you just sitting there for a moment before he started the car to take you back to your room for the night.

Tonight felt like the first night of the rest of your lives.

Hopefully this was the beginning of better things for you both.

You couldn't believe that this man was really yours. That you would be so lucky to have him want to be with you.

He thought he didn't deserve you, but really it was you who felt like you didn't deserve him. He was more than you ever could have dreamed off. Scars and all. Because sometimes whether we believe it or not, it's the scars that make us beautiful in the first place.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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#jensen ackles #jensen ackles fanficiton #jensen ackles fanfic #jensen ackles series #jensen ackles dark fic #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x you #jensen x reader #jensen x you #hurt!jensen #hurt!comfort fic #dark!fic #hurt!jensen x reader #hurt!jensen ackles x reader #dean winchester #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #jawritter #you and me

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forehead-enthusiast · 5 years

Text

I Do

Pairing: Jaemin x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Royalty!AU, Arranged Marriage AU, perhaps a small dash of what could be interpreted as implied smut?? but I don’t interpret it that way so its up to you

Word Count: 5.3k

Summary: The prospect of marrying someone you’d never met devastated you. However, your new husband never ceases to surprise you.

A/N: ahhh my first fic in a little while!! ik it’s quite long, but i hope you’ll give it a read! thank you!!

You waited in front of the church doors, a veil covering the devastation in your eyes. Your mother pressed a hand to your shoulder in some cheap imitation of comfort, as if she wasn’t the one who got you here. She gripped you too tightly, as if to imply escape was impossible. The white fabric of your dress creased under her fingers, and you subconsciously wondered if it would be wrinkled as you walked down the aisle. No more tears were left in your eyes; they’d fallen, one by one, all through the night, and had dried into a red stain that no cosmetic could cover.

The church doors opened.

The organ blared, the choir sang. The guests stood up and turned, their feet shuffling against the tiled floor. It was a cacophony. Nightmarish. Your knees shook as you took step after step towards the future you would have never chosen. You felt like you were walking towards a guillotine, and almost wished you were.

You made it to the altar. If only lightning could smash through the stained glass and strike you before the vows, you’d be saved. You stared at the ground and prayed fruitlessly, not bothering to listen to the empty words the priest proclaimed.

They weren’t true anyway. There was no love to promise in the first place. You honestly weren’t even sure if you knew which prince you were marrying. Ever since you were born, names of rulers and their heirs had been thrust upon you, to befriend, to charm, to capture. They were all just blurred faces, overshadowed by the jewels on their clothing and the parents on their shoulders. Did it really matter who your parents had eventually chosen? It’s not as though they’d work to try and find someone you’d love, let alone like. You hoped it at least wasn’t some man old enough to be your grandfather, but reconsidered. Maybe they’d die quickly and leave you to be the happiest widow alive. That was the best you could hope for, you supposed.

“And do you, y/n, take Jaemin to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

The words came out of your mouth flatly. They’d been practiced, ordered from you. You felt nothing offering them to the man before you- no affection, no intrigue, no guilt.

You’d never meant anything less in your life.

“And do you, Jaemin, take y/n to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

You barely took note of how young the voice sounded. In the back of your mind, you were disappointed that you couldn’t hope for him to die early.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Unknown hands reached out to lift the lace that covered your face, and you looked up to see your husband for the first time. He was young. He couldn’t be more than a year or two older than you, if that. He was pretty. He was smiling.

Then he wasn’t.

His face fell as he looked upon yours, and you wondered if you were truly so disappointing looking before you recognized the expression on his face. Sympathy. Guilt. He’d seen the redness of your eyes, the sadness etched into every feature of your face. He hesitated to kiss you, and for the first time today, you felt something. A sense of emotional closeness, you supposed. He was just the same as you. Not some old man looking for a younger toy, not some rich bastard looking for a new trophy. Just a person, too young to be treated like an adult, marrying someone they didn’t know.

“...Just do it.”

He looked even more guilty at that. He leaned in, pausing several times, and you wondered if your audience of strangers were confused. Just before your lips, he hovered, and whispered something only you could hear.

“I’m sorry.”

And he closed that final inch between you. You were stiff, but his lips against yours were warm, and more tender than any other touch you’d felt before. You wondered what either of you had done to deserve this.

You wrapped your arm around his and walked out of the church together, with your well rehearsed smiles plastered on your faces as you shook countless hands and thanked countless people you’d never met for coming to this oh-so-happy occasion. He opened the door of the coach for you. A perfect gentleman. He climbed in after you, and you rode off.

The happy newlyweds.

Neither of you spoke a word as the stagecoach traveled over every bump in the road, and you let your mind be occupied by the sound of hooves against cobblestone. Your mind drifted about, visiting every dream you’d had for your life when you were naive enough to believe it belonged to you. All the adventures you’d longed for, all the places you desperately desired to see, all the life there was to live outside the castle walls. You couldn’t even pretend they were a possibility for you now.

Jaemin stared at the floor of the carriage, his mind clouded with conflict. His eyes would flick up to catch a glimpse of your face as you stared resolutely out the window.

He knew you more than you realized.

He’d been excited to hear who he was marrying. Unlike you, he’d recognized the name, and had lit up at the news. It wasn’t exactly what he’d envisioned, this coincidence planned by outside forces, but the prospect of getting to be with you had sounded wonderful to him. He hadn’t imagined you didn’t feel the same. He loathed himself for that. It’s not as though he could’ve done anything to change or halt the wedding, but he kicked himself for letting you see him so excited when you were so distraught. It was just so… insensitive of him. How could be hope to be a good husband when he hadn’t even stopped to imagine your feelings?

What bothered him the most, though, was that some part of him was still stubbornly happy to have you with him now. His forlorn bride. You looked beautiful despite how obviously sad you were. The lace of your dress draped against your skin like seafoam on waves. The lips (that he’d just kissed, he realized) were pink and reminiscent of budding roses. They matched the new flush on his cheeks.

You arrived at the estate, and he helped you out of the coach naturally. You looked over the beautiful building, surrounded by gardens and white marble statues, and sighed. This was your home now until you inherited the kingdom. It wasn’t really so different from the castle you’d left behind, but you were so different from the girl that had left.

Jaemin opened his mouth many times to speak as you were guided through the ornate hallways, but couldn’t find anything to say. He wanted to offer some sort of promise, some sort of comfort, but he looked at your back, ever so slightly hunched in defeat, and crumbled.

You ate dinner in silence.

Jaemin sat up in bed, waiting for his hair to fully dry. His eyes drifted around the large room, far too big for one person. Of course, it wasn’t. His heartbeat raced as he looked over at the other side of the bed, yet empty. It was an enormous bed; it probably could fit four of him, and was so velvety to the touch, it felt like a dream itself.

He flinched as the door creaked. You walked in, a nightgown on instead of your wedding dress, head still hanging.

“...Um! This is sort of weird, but, um, I’m Jaemin. It’s nice to meet you, or I dunno, marry you-”

“I’m y/n.”

“...Okay.”

He watched your figure, that looked so frail in the loose fabric of your pajamas, climb under the covers beside him. Well, beside him was a stretch. You curled up on the most distant edge, and he would’ve struggled to reach you if he tried. He sighed, and put out the light after gazing at your back facing him for a moment.

“Goodnight, y/n.”

He laid awake that night, listening to soft sobs that weren’t quite drowned out by a pillow, and cried a little himself.

You were already gone by the time he woke up. Had you… had you run away? In the middle of the night? He cursed himself, and swung a robe around his shoulders as he hurried into the corridor. His breathing grew heavier as he threw himself into room after room, looking for some kind of clue as to where you’d gone, and then suddenly- there you were.

He finally paused, and took in the sight of you surrounded by flowers.

It was the first time since you’d been wed that he’d seen something besides distress on your face. You looked peaceful, wind gently flicking at your hair. He breathed in the scent of petals and morning dew, happy to share anything at all with you. His eyes widened when he realized you’d noticed him.

“You’re… still here.”

“...Yeah.”

He walked over to the bench you were sitting on, and crouched down, his face in his knees before he looked up to face you. His brows scrunched together and a relieved smile bloomed on his face.

“I’m so glad.” And then, “I’m sorry for that.”

“Sorry? For what?”

His smile relaxed you. His entire self relaxed you, once you let it. The realization that he was in the same predicament as you hadn’t made the transition much easier, but nonetheless, the sincerity in his voice, his eyes, the very tips of fingers was unlike anything you’d ever experienced. You’d never felt that anyone was truly genuine to you before.

“For being happy you didn’t leave. I know the idea must’ve crossed your mind, and I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d done it. And maybe you’d be happier right now if you had. So I’m sorry.”

You didn’t know how to respond to his honesty. You thought you could deal with anything. Facade, pretense, selfishness, violence, you knew you could handle anything that was thrown at you. But this was just too different. He was different. A sliver of a smile cracked onto your face. It was a feeling you’d almost forgotten. You’d grown so used to the performance of joy you nearly failed to recognize the real thing.

“You don’t need to apologize.”

Jaemin’s heart throbbed when he saw that shadow of happiness on your face, and wondered what he could possibly do to brighten it even more. He stood up slowly, and asked cautiously if he could sit beside you and take in the morning. You nodded, and he sat down. His fingers fidgeted in his lap as he struggled to think of other things to say, but he just let the scenery speak in his stead.

You struggled to open up to Jaemin, despite how sincere you knew he was. Luckily, he didn’t give up easily. Every time you fell silent, every time you let a conversation die, he just smiled, and thought of something new to ask you.

No one had ever shown interest in you as a person before. He never asked about your family, your land, your title, but instead asked you little things. The meaningless things that somehow seemed more valuable to him.

“What’s your favorite fruit?”

You’d mumbled, “Grapes,” in reply, and woke up each morning with a bowl of them on your nightstand.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Yellow.” You’d found a bouquet of yellow carnations on your favorite bench. They didn’t look like they’d come from a florist. Rather, they looked clumsily but lovingly picked, and you put them in a vase with that small smile that Jaemin considered the highest reward.

“What’s your favorite dance?”

“That’s a secret.” Jaemin turned to you in surprise. It was the first time you’d shown a hint of humor in an answer, and he positively glowed. It was a bit bizarre to see him so happy at having an answer withheld from him. He grinned, and took one step closer to you than usual.

“You really won’t tell me?”

“Nope. And I’ll make sure you never guess.”

He was ecstatic.

You were… friends. The smile that once felt foreign on your face reappeared more and more frequently thanks to him, until it was as natural as when you were a child. The murky clouds in your heart didn’t dissolve, but unlike ever before, there was a glimpse of sunlight. You learned how to laugh again. Being around him was easy- he never made you feel like you had to be anyone but yourself. He’d race you through the gardens, and tease you when you threw your heels aside. He’d try and fail to make flower crowns out of the little white flowers nestled in the grass, and never got better at it. He’d pluck dandelions for you, and hand them to you with a grin.

He was the perfect distance from you. Closer than anyone, closer than your family or the servants you’d allowed yourself to grow attached to when you were still young and gullible, but far enough that you never felt any kind of pressure to behave a certain way. You took a dandelion from him, and watched the seeds float away in the breeze.

“Jaemin, I’m glad it was you I married.”

Jaemin’s heart paused for a second, then beat rapidly against his ribcage.

“Y-you are?” Maybe you felt the same way he did.

“Yeah. I was worried I’d been carted off to be some plaything for a nasty old tyrant of a man.”

That was not a very high bar to exceed. Jaemin felt his heartbeat slow down to its usual pace again. He swore to himself internally that he’d make you really, truly happy you married him if it killed him. He’d only fallen harder in the passing weeks. Your smile made butterflies migrate to his stomach no matter how often it occurred nowadays, and with every day that came and went, you were more beautiful to him than the girl he married.

You liked his smile too. That was an understatement. His bright smile was infectious, and made his handsome features all the more boyish and sweet. Sometimes it seemed as though it made your heart beat faster, but you seriously doubted that thing inside you still had the capacity to do so. For years now you’d sworn it had died, and you were just a miraculous walking corpse.

Still, as the weeks continued to pass, it seemed like it was working better than it ever had. You noticed it pounding when Jaemin took your hand to lead you through the garden to a new secret spot he’d found, just by a small pond. You held your skirts above your knees and waded through it. You’d never done that before, and laughed out loud when Jaemin got scared by a frog. The pounding had to be from the excitement of finally daring to do the things you imagined, but had never been allowed to try back home.

Sometimes you really did feel happy here. It was hard not to, with Jaemin as your partner to explore and discover all the estate had to offer. But no matter how hard you tried to forget all that you’d wished for in the past, images of adventure always found their way back to you in your dreams. You tried to push them farther away. You’d gotten a best friend for a husband- that was more than you could hope for.

Jaemin took you by the hand again today, promising a very big surprise. You hurried down the hallways, giggling like schoolchildren, until you reached an imposing wooden door. The estate, big as it was, always seemed to have new rooms to find.

“Close your eyes, y/n. Are you peeking?” He waved a hand in front of your face before pushing open the doors with a creak and guiding you inside.

It was… an empty room. A beautiful one, but empty nonetheless. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and the floor was mirror smooth, your skirt just reflected upon it.

“Jaemin, what is this?”

“It’s a ballroom. For dancing.”

You playfully groaned as you remembered the little secret you’d kept from him all that time ago.

“So that’s your plan.”

“Hey, it’s the best I got.” He held out his hands, and waited stubbornly until you took them. He pulled you gently towards him.

“So, y/n, what’s your favorite type of dance?”

“Not. Telling. Besides, we don’t even have any musicians, how are we supposed to dance at all?”

“Who needs ‘em?” He began to hum, a little out of tune, but the sound still rang out in the empty, echoey room, and you laughed at the orchestra of his voice. He spun you around, and you shrieked with laughter. Eventually, you both took off your shoes in favor of sliding around the glossy floor in your stockings. You had spent a lot of alone time with Jaemin, but even then, there was always some guard or servant walking by or watching from a ways away. Here, you were really alone. The only other people there were your images on the floor, looking just as euphoric as you both felt.

He twirled you into him, and you landed softly against his chest. You’d never really taken notice of it before, but he was strong. Broad. Your heartbeat sped up. You tried to convince yourself it was from the dancing. He smiled softly, and tucked some of your flyaway hairs behind your ear.

“Come on, just tell me. I even found a ballroom for us to do whatever it is you like.”

You sighed, and buried your head in his chest. He completely froze, redness managing to reach his ears in record time. He’d gotten so close with you, he sometimes forgot how madly in love he was with you. This was an intense way to be reminded.

“Jaemiiiin.” It was the first time he’d heard you whine like that, and he pressed his hands to his face, trying to stop himself from screaming with affection.

“Jaemin.” You propped your face up, your chin on his torso now. “Jaemin, I can’t dance at all. I don’t have a favorite type. I don’t have any type I can even do.”

He burst out laughing, and you threatened to storm off.

“No! No, I’m sorry, please come back.” His apology was somewhat dampened by his roars of laughter, but you reluctantly stayed. He was sitting on the floor now, wiping tears from his eyes as he gasped.

“You really are so cute.”

You blushed. You didn’t even know you could. Jaemin blushed too when he saw you flush, which just made you flush more, and in response, he did, and so on and so forth. The whole room seemed to heat up just because of your competing fiery faces. Jaemin jumped up and pushed his hair back in an effort to compose himself.

He held out his hands again.

“Come on. Come on, don’t be shy.”

You took them begrudgingly.

“Alright, step backwards with your left foot.” Your eyes widened, but you obeyed. “Okay, now your right. Uh-huh, just like that.” He taught you carefully, leading you around the dancefloor with that kind of gentlemanly grace that came naturally to him. He yelped melodramatically when you stepped on his toes, and chuckled when you smacked his arm in indignation. He hummed again, just next to your ear, and you felt like you were floating, despite your continued clumsiness.

His impromptu song and lesson came to an end. You looked up, still entranced, and saw Jaemin with a smile gentler than all his afternoon sunshine ones before it. It was soft like the evening sun, just before it melts completely into the horizon.

You found it hard to let go of his hands.

Jaemin glanced over at you as you climbed into bed, the nightgown you were wearing tonight barely different from the one you wore your wedding night. It still managed to make him nervous though, he’d never gotten used to it. You laid down on your faraway section of mattress, and as Jaemin thought about your head buried in his chest, he felt bolder than he ever had before.

“Y-you can come closer. If you want.”

You looked up in surprise, then at the space next to him, then at his face. You opened your mouth, then thought better and snapped it shut. Your hands gripped your bedsheets.

“Actually, um… I think I’ll stay over here.”

Jaemin was horrified at himself. He’d done it now, he'd ruined everything. He’d pushed too much, made his feelings too obvious, made you uncomfortable. God, how could he have been so stupid? He’d made it his goal to make you happy, not satisfy his own stupid wants. If you weren’t sharing a bed, he would’ve shoved a pillow onto his face and screamed.

He laid awake that night, tossing and turning, still furious at himself.

“Jaemin?”

His eyes darted over to you in the darkness, but he held his tongue, afraid you would tell him you were leaving to sleep somewhere else.

“Are you asleep?”

He thought about answering, “Yes!” and smiled to himself. As he was imagining that juvenile fantasy, the blankets behind his back shifted. He froze completely, unsure if he was imagining the rustling, the feeling of the mattress bending with another person’s weight. Was he imagining this warmth too? He had to be. You had turned him down just hours before. But for some inexplicable reason, you were now hovering just behind his back. He forced himself not to twitch as your fingertips grazed his back.

Why? Why were you doing this? Why didn’t you do it earlier? A thousand and one questions ran through Jaemin’s mind, but he suppressed them all, refusing to interrupt this moment. He could just feel you grab a tiny bit of his shirt’s fabric between your fingers, and he wondered if this was all a dream. If it wasn’t, there was a real chance his heart would burst right out of his chest onto the covers.

He didn’t get a single second of sleep that night, but got hours of a dream come true.

Just like always, you were gone in the morning, off to a garden or breakfast or something else. For the first time ever, he’d been awake as you clambered out of bed. He'd kept his eyes resolutely shut, not blowing his cover now, and panicked that you’d notice the flush on his face when he heard the sound of clothes being changed. That was an image he didn’t need floating around his mind all day, teasing him. He smacked his hand against his head over and over, trying to rid himself of it.

Every night since then, you’d been doing the same thing. Calling out to him softly, asking if he was awake, and then moving towards him to sleep peacefully. Your slow breathing warmed the fabric against his back, and he wondered if this was a reward or torture.

“Jaemin, you look awful. Did you sleep okay?”

“Hm? Oh. I’m fine. I just… had weird dreams.”

The dark circles that worsened by the day didn’t manage to make him less beautiful, but they were still concerning. Even he had to admit they were bad. As much as he painfully loved having you snuggling up to him every night, he was beginning to doze off during all your daytime endeavors.

So this time, when you cuddled up to him, he turned around to face you.

He wasn’t exactly ready to have your face that close to his, and reflexively wrenched his head back, as did you.

“J-Jaemin?! You’re awake?!”

You pulled at blankets to try and hide yourself, and he thought about how adorable you looked all bundled up. Agh, he couldn’t let himself get distracted. But wow, your cheeks were so red. You looked like a strawberry, ripened with summer heat. Focus, Jaemin, focus.

“Why are you doing this? I thought you didn’t want to.”

You pulled the blankets over your head, and he pulled them back down.

“I… I did want to. But. It’s. It’s embarrassing somehow! But I still want to. But I, I didn’t want you to know that I was embarrassed because then I’d be more embarrassed, and I don’t even know why but ever since we danced that first time everything you do embarrasses me and-”

Jaemin watched you ramble, and condemned himself for hoping. Hoping that this feeling of embarrassment you spoke of meant what he thought it might.

“Y/n, I am so unbelievably in love with you.”

Your tumbling words ceased immediately.

“What?”

“I love you so much. I’ve loved you for years, long before we got married. I’ve loved you since I first saw you, when you saved that frog at the garden party.”

“W-what?”

“I know you don’t remember it, I mean, we must’ve been about ten. But you saved a frog that was being bullied by some of the servants, and held it in your hands fearlessly as you put it back in the pond and I’ve been in love with you ever since that day. And I know it’s weird that that sparked my feelings for you, but it did. This isn’t the way I had wanted it to happen, but I always knew I wanted to marry you. I love you.”

“Jaemin! Stop… saying… that you l-lo… me.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“...There’s no need to apologize.”

He looked up at you, practically glowing with your pink cheeks. He reached out, and paused when you flinched.

“I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

“No, it’s just…”

“Embarrassing?”

You scrunched your eyes shut and nodded. He didn’t understand how you could somehow get him to adore you more each and every moment, but you did.

“Y/n, do you want to marry me?”

Your eyes flicked open.

“We’re already married?”

“But I want to know if you want to.”

“I… do.”

“Do you,” he gulped, nervous despite it all, “Do you love me?”

You avoided looking at him for a few agonizing moments before meeting his eyes and answering.

“I do.”

You'd never meant anything more in your life.

“Can I kiss you, y/n? For real?”

“...Yes.”

He tried to hold himself back, but practically tackled you in his eagerness. You yelped as you fell backwards, and your teeth clacked together. You winced in unison. He looked down at you, laying between his arms, and couldn’t believe it was real. You giggled lowly at the flush on his cheeks until he pointed out you were even redder.

He fell onto his elbows to be closer to your face. You both stared into each other’s eyes, unsure of when to close them. You squinted yours shut, and Jaemin’s heart leapt into his throat. He took a moment to admire this expression of yours, this “waiting for a kiss” face, and once it was burned into his memory, leaned down. He was almost too cautious, his kiss even more hesitant than the one that dubbed you man and wife, but once he saw you were still there waiting for another, surrendered.

He kissed you with all the passion he’d been suppressing, his lips locking with yours over and over, without a moment to breathe. He tasted like mint. Unaware of your own actions, you reached up to wrap your arms around his torso and hold him more closely to you. A thrill ran up his spine. If he was being honest, he really didn’t know what he was doing. This was only his second kiss, if you could even consider your wedding day one a proper first. He let instinct take over, biting your bottom lip gently. You flinched at the unfamiliar sensation, and he almost pulled away, but you just embraced him tighter. He took a moment to appreciate your breathlessness before leaning back down to press a kiss to the underside of your jaw. He smiled against your skin when he felt you tremble with surprise, and left a trail of light kisses all down your neck to your collarbone. You squirmed beneath him as he bit your neck lightly, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, and he popped up to face you again, looking completely entranced.

“Jaemin, you-”

“Sorry, your lips.”

“What, no, I-”

He cut off your sentence with the return of his lips on yours, rougher than before. He couldn’t lie, he’d imagined kissing you before, but his fantasies couldn’t live up to this feeling in the least. You were softer than he’d imagined. Smaller in his arms. Sweeter. Your voice took the form of high hums and gasps against his lips, and he found that all the more enticing. He ran his fingers through your hair, and felt almost afraid of himself and how much he wanted you.

“I’m sorry, y/n, I don’t know if I can stop.”

“I- well- it’s fine just,” You turned away, then let your glossy eyes alone flick back to him, flustered. “Just be more gentle.” He shivered with excitement at those words.

“...No promises.”

“Jaemin!”

He woke up before you this time. His arm felt heavy, and he looked over to see you snuggled into his shoulder, no attempt to be subtle this time. Your angelic appearance snapped him out of any and all drowsiness. Your hair was a mess. He apologized in his mind for that. Your lips were pinker than usual, and looked almost chapped from overuse. He apologized profusely in his mind for that. He placed his free palm on his face, still in disbelief.

He’d kissed you. He’d really kissed you. He’d kissed you a lot. And you’d kissed him back. He flushed just remembering. He could remember the way your lips felt vividly. Not vividly enough. The moment you woke up, he kissed you good morning. You jumped back instinctively, and he just laughed.

“I guess we both have to get more used to it.”

He leaned forward to place a peck on your nose.

“Doesn’t sound so bad.”

You nodded in affirmation, too bashful to verbally agree. What a night it had been for you. Just months ago, you would’ve never believed you could love someone. Could be in love with someone. Could even admit it. You made a feeble attempt to smooth out your hair, as though that would somehow make you composed enough to function like a real human today.

“I l-love you. Jaemin.”

He looked up in surprise, his jaw slack and eyes wide.

“I just… realized I didn’t say it while we were- you know.”

“You really want me to pounce on you again this early in the morning? Because I will.”

You smacked him with a pillow. “If you’re gonna be like this, I’m never saying it again!”

“Aww, no, I’m sorry.”

He pulled you back into a hug, sighing with contentedness. You relaxed into him.

“Y’know, I always wanted to go on adventures, but I think you might be scarier than anything else the world has to offer.”

“You want to go on adventures?”

“No, I meant like-”

“No, I know what you meant, but do you want to go on adventures?”

“I mean, yeah, but I want to stay with you even more.”

“Why do you have to choose?” He sat up, his eyes alight with invigoration. “Let’s just go! Together! We can call it a belated honeymoon. And a really extended one too. Where do you want to go? I don’t mind anywhere as long as it’s with you.”

It was your turn to tackle him, planting a too enthusiastic kiss on his mouth.

“You, Jaemin, are the best husband ever.”

He looked enormously pleased, if a little confused.

“Th-thanks!”

You spent the rest of the day rolling around on the bed, making plans, and smothering each other in kisses.

The happy newlyweds.

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